The Most Concrete Study of How Exercise Reduces Cancer Growth

Certain substances that emerge after short, intense exercise can slow breast cancer cell growth.

• Epinephrine is produced after exercise and slows the multiplication of cancer cells
• The findings explain how exercising can reduce women’s breast cancer risk
• The University of Copenhagen researchers who conducted the study state that exercise is one of the most important supports for a healthy life.

Exercise has long been known to be very beneficial for women with breast cancer, but the underlying mechanism had not been explained until now. According to researchers, physical activity, especially when intense, releases certain chemicals in the body. These chemicals include compounds called catecholamines, and in particular epinephrine helps suppress tumor cell growth.

Researchers emphasize that epinephrine released through exercise does not prevent tumor formation entirely, but can slow it by up to %50. Exercise can therefore never replace medical cancer treatments, but may be a supportive strategy for improving patients’ quality of life and prevention.

According to studies involving many people, women who exercise regularly have a lower risk of breast cancer, and in women with breast cancer, exercise can contribute to the response to medical treatment. However, few studies had investigated how exercise achieves this.

Study Results

The research team collected serum samples from breast cancer patients and healthy women before and after exercise and administered these sera to mice implanted with breast cancer cells. They then investigated the effects and mechanisms of these sera in the experimental mice. Serum samples collected after exercise were ultimately found to significantly reduce tumor cell growth. Moreover, this effect occurred only with serum samples taken 15 minutes after moderate- and high-intensity exercise.

This tumor-shrinking effect (antitumor activity), caused by the increase in epinephrine and norepinephrine following moderate and intense exercise, is thought to occur through activation of the tumor-suppressing Hippo gene-signaling pathway. Regulation of the Hippo signaling pathway by epinephrine is anticipated to work not only in breast cancer but in other cancer types as well.

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