Scientists from the University of Turku have found that light to moderate exercise can increase the number of immune cells in the bloodstream of cancer patients and increase their chances of survival. The research was published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology and Scientific Reports.
Cancer treatments can reduce the number of immune cells. For a long time it was believed that cancer patients should take care of themselves and limit their activities. Preclinical studies in recent years have shown that exercise stimulates the functioning of the immune system, which fights cancer cells.
The two recent studies included 28 patients with newly diagnosed lymphoma or breast cancer. The age of lymphoma patients ranged from 20 to 69, and the age of breast cancer patients ranged from 37 to 73. Patients completed the 10-minute cycling workout.
During exercise, the number of cytotoxic T cells and natural killer cells in the bloodstream of lymphoma patients increased.
In breast cancer patients, exercise increased intermediate monocytes and B cells, as well as total white blood cells, in addition to cytotoxic T cells and natural killer cells. The change was rapid, proportional to heart rate, and returned to pre-exercise levels 30 minutes after exercise.
“We observed an increase in cytotoxic immune cells during exercise in both patient groups. These immune cells have the ability to destroy cancer cells. Although our results show that the higher the exercise intensity, the more immune cells are transferred from the storage organs to the bloodstream, it is noteworthy that even mild to moderate exercise lasting as little as 10 minutes causes an increase in the number of immune cells. It is the cells that are important in fighting cancer.”