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features

Research: Adrenalin is key to exercise's beneficial effect on cancer

Recent research from Copenhagen has discovered why exercise has a beneficial effect on cancer, contributing to better treatment for patients

Published in Health Club Management 2017 issue 4

Researchers have long known that regular exercise reduces the risk of cancer and lessens the risk of its return. What wasn’t known was the mechanism behind this effect. If researchers could pinpoint the action that was triggered by exercise, this could be used to better treat cancer patients.

A team led by Dr Pernille Hojman at Copenhagen University Hospital took up the challenge, testing the effect on mice. The study had several stages. In the first stage, the team split the mice into two groups: the active group, who had running wheels in their cages, and the inactive group, who had no running wheels. All mice were injected with cancer-causing substances.

The results confirmed the premise of the study. “We found that tumour growth in the running mice was reduced by more than 50 per cent compared to the inactive mice,” says Dr Hojman. “I was surprised by the effect – it was so dramatic and convincing.”

Natural killers
The next step was to test the mechanisms behind this dramatic effect. The team analysed the tumours from the mice and found that those from the active mice contained more immune cells than those from inactive mice. Specifically, there were double the number of cytotoxic T-cells, which attack cancerous cells, and five times the number of natural killer (NK) cells, which attract immune cells to a damaged area of the body.

Having discovered the presence of these cells, Dr Hojman and team embarked on the third stage of the study, in which they engineered the mice to lack either NK cells or T-cells. A lack of T-cells had little impact, but without NK cells, both active and inactive mice developed tumours of the same size. This indicated that NK cells, not T-cells, were responsible for the beneficial effect.

Finally, in an effort to explain how exercise triggers an increase in NK cells, Dr Hojman tested the hormone commonly associated with exercise – adrenalin, also known as epinephrine. When this hormone was injected into inactive mice, tumour growth was reduced by 61 per cent. However, the active mice, also given epinephrine, showed an even more impressive reduction of 74 per cent. There was clearly something else involved.

After further testing, it was found that the molecule interleukin-6, which also increases with exercise and assists immune cells, was the missing link. When the researchers injected inactive mice with both epinephrine and interleukin-6, tumour growth was slowed to the same rate as those of the active mice.

The exercise drug
Dr Hojman explains why these findings are so important. “We are now testing cancer patients, and our preliminary data suggest that the mechanism is the same in humans as it was in mice.

“I think our results will help to precisely prescribe what type and amount of exercise should be performed to obtain this beneficial effect on tumour growth. We are still in the early phases, but currently we are recommending that all cancer patients perform high-intensity but short sessions of endurance training.”

It is also possible that epinephrine and interleukin-6 could be given as drugs to treat cancer patients who are too ill to be sufficiently active. ?

*Pedersen, L et al. Voluntary running suppresses tumor growth through epinephrine- and IL-6-dependent NK cell mobilization and redistribution. Cell Metabolism. Volume 23, Issue 3.

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features

Research: Adrenalin is key to exercise's beneficial effect on cancer

Recent research from Copenhagen has discovered why exercise has a beneficial effect on cancer, contributing to better treatment for patients

Published in Health Club Management 2017 issue 4

Researchers have long known that regular exercise reduces the risk of cancer and lessens the risk of its return. What wasn’t known was the mechanism behind this effect. If researchers could pinpoint the action that was triggered by exercise, this could be used to better treat cancer patients.

A team led by Dr Pernille Hojman at Copenhagen University Hospital took up the challenge, testing the effect on mice. The study had several stages. In the first stage, the team split the mice into two groups: the active group, who had running wheels in their cages, and the inactive group, who had no running wheels. All mice were injected with cancer-causing substances.

The results confirmed the premise of the study. “We found that tumour growth in the running mice was reduced by more than 50 per cent compared to the inactive mice,” says Dr Hojman. “I was surprised by the effect – it was so dramatic and convincing.”

Natural killers
The next step was to test the mechanisms behind this dramatic effect. The team analysed the tumours from the mice and found that those from the active mice contained more immune cells than those from inactive mice. Specifically, there were double the number of cytotoxic T-cells, which attack cancerous cells, and five times the number of natural killer (NK) cells, which attract immune cells to a damaged area of the body.

Having discovered the presence of these cells, Dr Hojman and team embarked on the third stage of the study, in which they engineered the mice to lack either NK cells or T-cells. A lack of T-cells had little impact, but without NK cells, both active and inactive mice developed tumours of the same size. This indicated that NK cells, not T-cells, were responsible for the beneficial effect.

Finally, in an effort to explain how exercise triggers an increase in NK cells, Dr Hojman tested the hormone commonly associated with exercise – adrenalin, also known as epinephrine. When this hormone was injected into inactive mice, tumour growth was reduced by 61 per cent. However, the active mice, also given epinephrine, showed an even more impressive reduction of 74 per cent. There was clearly something else involved.

After further testing, it was found that the molecule interleukin-6, which also increases with exercise and assists immune cells, was the missing link. When the researchers injected inactive mice with both epinephrine and interleukin-6, tumour growth was slowed to the same rate as those of the active mice.

The exercise drug
Dr Hojman explains why these findings are so important. “We are now testing cancer patients, and our preliminary data suggest that the mechanism is the same in humans as it was in mice.

“I think our results will help to precisely prescribe what type and amount of exercise should be performed to obtain this beneficial effect on tumour growth. We are still in the early phases, but currently we are recommending that all cancer patients perform high-intensity but short sessions of endurance training.”

It is also possible that epinephrine and interleukin-6 could be given as drugs to treat cancer patients who are too ill to be sufficiently active. ?

*Pedersen, L et al. Voluntary running suppresses tumor growth through epinephrine- and IL-6-dependent NK cell mobilization and redistribution. Cell Metabolism. Volume 23, Issue 3.

Sign up here to get Fit Tech's weekly ezine and every issue of Fit Tech magazine free on digital.
More features
Editor's letter

Into the fitaverse

Fitness is already among the top three markets in the metaverse, with new technology and partnerships driving real growth and consumer engagement that looks likely to spill over into health clubs, gyms and studios
Fit Tech people

Ali Jawad

Paralympic powerlifter and founder, Accessercise
Users can easily identify which facilities in the UK are accessible to the disabled community
Fit Tech people

Hannes Sjöblad

MD, DSruptive
We want to give our users an implantable tool that allows them to collect their health data at any time and in any setting
Fit Tech people

Jamie Buck

Co-founder, Active in Time
We created a solution called AiT Voice, which turns digital data into a spoken audio timetable that connects to phone systems
Profile

Fahad Alhagbani: reinventing fitness

Let’s live in the future to improve today
Opinion

Building on the blockchain

For small sports teams looking to compete with giants, blockchain can be a secret weapon explains Lars Rensing, CEO of Protokol
Innovation

Bold move

Our results showed a greater than 60 per cent reduction in falls for individuals who actively participated in Bold’s programme
App analysis

Check your form

Sency’s motion analysis technology is allowing users to check their technique as they exercise. Co-founder and CEO Gal Rotman explains how
Profile

New reality

Sam Cole, CEO of FitXR, talks to Fit Tech about taking digital workouts to the next level, with an immersive, virtual reality fitness club
Profile

Sohail Rashid

The app is free and it’s $40 to participate in one of our virtual events
Ageing

Reverse Ageing

Many apps help people track their health, but Humanity founders Peter Ward and Michael Geer have put the focus on ageing, to help users to see the direct repercussions of their habits. They talk to Steph Eaves
App analysis

Going hybrid

Workout Anytime created its app in partnership with Virtuagym. Workout Anytime’s Greg Maurer and Virtuagym’s Hugo Braam explain the process behind its creation
Research

Physical activity monitors boost activity levels

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have conducted a meta analysis of all relevant research and found that the body of evidence shows an impact
Editor's letter

Two-way coaching

Content providers have been hugely active in the fit tech market since the start of the pandemic. We expect the industry to move on from delivering these services on a ‘broadcast-only’ basis as two-way coaching becomes the new USP
Fit Tech People

Laurent Petit

Co-founder, Active Giving
The future of sports and fitness are dependent on the climate. Our goal is to positively influence the future of our planet by instilling a global vision of wellbeing and a sense of collective action
Fit Tech People

Adam Zeitsiff

CEO, Intelivideo
We don’t just create the technology and bail – we support our clients’ ongoing hybridisation efforts
Fit Tech People

Anantharaman Pattabiraman

CEO and co-founder, Auro
When you’re undertaking fitness activities, unless you’re on a stationary bike, in most cases it’s not safe or necessary to be tied to a screen, especially a small screen
Fit Tech People

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Managing partner, Endorphinz
We noticed a big gap in the market – customers needed better insights but also recommendations on what to do, whether that be customer acquisition, content creation, marketing and more
More features