We know that exercise is good for us, but how good, really?
Well, when it’s running, it could possibly fight — and prevent — cancer, according to a recent study published in Cell Metabolism.
The study analyzed the effects of running on skin, liver, and lung tumors implanted in two groups of mice. One group spent significant time over the course of four weeks running on a wheel, while the other group remained mostly inactive. The result? The exercising mice showed more than a 60% reduction in tumor size and growth, thanks to the increase in natural killer, or NK cells. Apparently, the adrenaline that comes from high-intensity exercise like running, mobilizes those cancer-killing cells, that enter the bloodstream, find the tumors, and regulate their growth.
“It is known that infiltration of natural killer (NK) immune cells can control and regulate the size of tumors, but nobody had looked at how exercise regulates the system,” senior study author Pernille Hojman, Ph.D., said in a news release.
And this isn’t just great news for patients who currently have cancer. Hojman and the researchers also discovered that running lowered the chances of the healthy mice developing tumors
Though there is still more research to be done to determine how exactly this information applies to humans, and what other factors may be at play, the results are enough to encourage everyone — healthy or not — to exercise regularly.
“As someone working in the field of exercise and oncology, one of the main questions that cancer patients always ask is: How should I exercise? Can we do anything?” Hojman said. “While it has previously been difficult to advise people about the intensity at which they should exercise, our data suggest that it might be beneficial to exercise at a somewhat high intensity in order to provoke a good epinephrine surge and hence recruitment of NK cells.”
