Exercise Helps Shrink Tumors in Chemo Patients

A study at the University of Pennsylvania concluded that exercise is a key component in tumor fighting for chemotherapy patients. The American Journal of Physiology includes reports written by associate professor, Libonati and colleagues. Certain cancer drugs are known to cause heart related issues. In a patient’s quest to cure their illness, they could be putting a very important organ in trouble for the long run. Libonati and others were testing exercise particularly to see if that could ease the looming cardiac effects of treatment.

The Study

Libonati worked with a team of individuals to uncover the truth about exercise in chemotherapy patients. They segmented mice into four groups and placed destructive cancer cells known as melanoma into their necks. Doxorubicin is the popular cancer drug known to cause cardiac issues. Two of the groups were given treatment with this drug while the other two were given placebos. From there, one of the two treated groups were given an exercise regimen alongside one of the untreated groups. The remaining two groups did not exercise at all.

Results

Two weeks into the study, the researchers tested the hearts in treated mice. Despite the exercise regimen of walking for forty-five minutes during five days each week, damage still occured. The success within the study truly lies in the tumor data. The mice who were on the drug and exercised had significantly smaller tumors after two weeks. In the future, this team will analyze how exercise enhances the medicine’s effect. However, now it appears that with more blood flow due to exercise, the drug is able to penetrate the tumors and encourage treatment.

In the future, Libonati state that it may be possible to lower the drug dose in patients if exercise is so powerful. Another alternative is that a drug could be created that mirrors the effect of exercise. It is now being uncovered that even simple movements can be a key factor in drug metabolization. More research is to come in the future.

For more information on this study, visit the Science Daily’s article here:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140918162348.htm