▎ WuXi AppTec content team editor
Cancer is a big killer that threatens human health, but we can change or control some known cancer risk factors, such as smoking, unhealthy diet or lack of physical activity . More and more scientific evidence suggests that these unhealthy lifestyles will disrupt the body's metabolism and immune balance, thereby driving cancer. On the contrary, exercise brings benefits to the whole body and helps to re-establish homeostasis. is not only an important factor in preventing cancer, but also can play its potential in clinical treatment.
Image source: 123RF
Recently, in a review published on Nature Metabolism under Nature, scientists outlined how exercise regulates immunity and metabolism, affecting the occurrence and development of cancer , and discussed how uses exercise in clinical practice The future direction of cancer prevention and suppression . In this article, Academic Jingwei will share the main content with readers and friends.
Prevents malignant development and protects multiple organs and tissues
In addition to strengthening the cardiopulmonary function and training "muscles", some recent studies have found that through metabolism or immune regulation pathways, exercise will produce tissue-specific effects on other important organs , Enhance protection and resist tumor occurrence.
takes the liver as an example. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is caused by chronic metabolic disorders, which increase the risk of liver cancer. It is characterized by accumulation of triglycerides in liver cells, accompanied by liver inflammation. In a mouse model of diet-induced NAFLD, 4-week exercise (running in a running wheel) can inhibit the development of liver steatosis compared to the control group. Related studies have shown that at the same time, exercise can increase the activity of the kinase AMPK in the liver, thereby reducing anabolic processes (such as lipid synthesis) and increasing catabolic processes (such as lipid oxidation). Along with these metabolic changes, from the expression of inflammation-related genes, liver inflammation is reduced.
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Ulcerative colitis is a major risk factor for colorectal cancer, and animal experiments have found that exercise therapy can alleviate this chronic inflammatory state. The researchers allowed the drug-induced rats with chronic colitis to swim every day for 7 weeks, 5 days a week, and compared with the control group, they found that they can inhibit colon shortening, colonic wall damage and splenomegaly, and they can swim longer every day. The effect is also better.
▲ Exercise can protect multiple organs against tissue-specific cancer (picture source: reference [1])
The hematopoietic function of bone marrow will also be regulated by exercise. The hematopoietic function of the bone marrow is elevated in cancer and is converted to produce more myeloid cells. In many cancers, increased levels of myeloid cells in the blood are associated with poor outcomes. Studies carried out in several mouse models have shown that running for 6 weeks can promote hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells to remain quiet and reduce myeloid cell production.
regulates the tumor microenvironment and inhibits tumor growth.
A variety of cells and molecules related to systemic metabolism and immune function (such as specific types of immune cells, glucose in the blood, etc.) will change due to exercise. Similar changes occur in cancer patients and will change the tumor microenvironment (TME). A number of studies on preclinical cancer models have shown that reshapes the metabolism and immune network in the tumor microenvironment, which may be an important mechanism for exercise to inhibit or delay tumor growth.
▲ movement changes the immune composition of the tumor microenvironment (blue box), reduces the proportion of innate immune cell populations, increases the ratio of T cells and natural killer cells, and changes the metabolism of the tumor microenvironment (green box). Reduce hypoxia, etc. (picture source: Reference [1])
Scientists have found through multiple experiments that before and after transplanting mice with different types of tumor cells such as lymphoma, melanoma or breast cancer, the animals are allowed to run or swim Increasing exercise such as exercise can help inhibit tumor growth and even live longer . There are also experiments showing that exercise can enhance the therapeutic effect of local radiotherapy plus anti-PD-1 therapy , further inhibit tumor growth, and reduce the accumulation of immunosuppressive cells in the tumor.
The analysis of these studies suggests that exercise may simultaneously regulate the immune response of the whole body and within the tumor, and enhances the anti-tumor activity of immune cells .
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On the other hand, exercise also shows the effect of on tumor metabolism , changing a variety of metabolites (such as lactate) unique to the tumor microenvironment, signaling pathways and transcription factor signals, and energy metabolism pathways. In some cancer models, after implanting mice with patient-derived tumor grafts, the researchers analyzed the composition of tumor metabolites and found that the relative proportions of dozens of metabolites in tumors in exercised mice changed significantly.
How exercise changes the interaction between tumor metabolism and immunity , which in turn changes tumorigenesis, has also attracted the attention of scientists. The author of this review pointed out that related research will be an important direction in the future.
Exercise therapy: There have been a number of clinical trials underway. In addition to the pre-clinical studies that showed that exercise prevents cancer and suppresses cancer, several clinical trials have begun to study the effect of exercise therapy on cancer. The author of the
article mentioned that there are at least two multi-center, phase 3 randomized controlled trials that are investigating whether exercise intervention over a period of 2 to 3 years can help patients with primary colon cancer and metastatic prostate cancer improve cancer outcomes , Including whether it can improve disease-free survival or overall survival. There are also several smaller clinical trials that focus on whether exercise can prevent the incidence of primary cancer or prevent cancer recurrence.
Image source: 123RF
The author of the study pointed out that these preliminary studies, along with recent advances in multi-omics analysis technology, single-cell sequencing and spatial transcriptomics, and advanced computing methods using artificial intelligence, will be unprecedented Resolution provides us with exciting insights into the relationship between exercise in physiology, immune metabolism, and tumorigenesis.
At the end of this review, the author of the study concluded that unhealthy lifestyle factors of can cause imbalance of the immune metabolism axis at various levels of the body, tissues, cells, and molecules, and become one of the reasons for accelerating tumor formation , and exercise may It is a strategy to reshape the immune and metabolic networks and their interaction . Deepening the understanding of the important role of sports in preventing and fighting cancer is also expected to achieve the goal of improving health and promoting longevity.
Reference Materials
New Crown Virus Specials
Cancer Breakthrough
Light of Wisdom
Popular Frontiers
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