Exercise has long been known to lower the chances of getting cancer and help with treatment.  But how exactly does it work?  One interesting idea is that exercise might help by sending out tiny messengers called extracellular vesicles.  These vesicles are like little packages that cells use to talk to each other.  A recent study wanted to see if these vesicles could help fight colon cancer cells.

    Ten young, active men took part in this study.  They did two different types of exercise on a stationary bike.  One was a steady, moderate workout.  The other was a short, intense burst of exercise.  Blood samples were taken before and after the workouts.  The vesicles were then taken from the blood and mixed with colon cancer cells in a lab.

    The results were pretty interesting.  The vesicles from all the workouts, even the resting sample, reduced the number of cancer cells.  But the vesicles from the intense workout did the best job.  They cut down the number of cancer cells by almost half.  This is a big deal because it shows that the harder the workout, the more the vesicles can fight cancer.

    The intense workout vesicles also made the cancer cells less likely to spread.  They increased the amount of proteins that tell cells to die.  This is important because cancer cells often avoid dying, which is why they can grow out of control.  The vesicles from the intense workout also increased the amount of DNA damage in the cancer cells.  This is another way they can stop cancer from growing.

    This study is one of the first to show that exercise might help fight cancer by sending out these tiny messengers.  It's a new and exciting area of research.  But it's important to remember that this was just a small study in a lab.  More research is needed to see if this works in people with cancer.  Also, it's not clear if the same thing would happen in other types of cancer.

    So, what does this mean for you?  Well, it's another good reason to stay active.  Exercise is good for your body in so many ways.  And now, it looks like it might help fight cancer too.  But remember, always talk to a doctor before starting any new exercise program.  And if you have cancer, talk to your doctor about what kind of exercise is right for you.

Exercise and Cancer: How Sweat Might Fight Tumors

Actions