Systemic alterations brought on by exercise can potentially decrease disease progression in men with advanced prostate cancer.
Physical activity has been shown to improve physical function and the results of supportive treatment for cancer patients, particularly those with advanced disease. In addition, prostate cancer patient epidemiological studies consistently demonstrate a positive correlation between increased physical activity and a decreased risk of prostate cancer-specific death and disease progression.
This study was published in Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases. It compared the levels of myokines, including decorin, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-15, secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC), oncostatin M (OSM), and myostatin with levels of two growth hormones, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3), in patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) during the first six months of a two-year exercise intervention versus a control group. Patients with mCRPC enrolled in the INTERVAL-GAP4 trial before and after 6 months of exercise and its tumor-suppressive effect.
Serum was taken from 25 mCRPC patients and was randomly allocated to supervised exercise (EX) or a self-directed exercise control group. Dual-energy X-ray was utilized to determine body composition at baseline and after the first 6 months of the study. Myokines (SPARC, OSM, decorin, IGF-1, and IGFBP-3) in the serum were measured. The DU145 prostate cancer cell line was treated with serum, and its growth was monitored for 72 hours.
Due to the low rate of recovery of irisin, IL-6, IL-15, and myostatin in multiplexed magnetic bead-based immunoassay, only OSM, SPARC, decorin, IGF-1, and IGFBP-3 could be analyzed. No significant differences were observed in IGF-1 and IGFBP-3. However, there were significant differences between groups in serum levels of OSM and SPARC at post-intervention compared to baseline. A substantial decrease in DU145 development after applying serum from the EX versus the CON was observed during 72 h.
This study confirmed that compared to controls, the first six months of exercise intervention induced an increase in myokine expression, notably OSM, SPARC, and body weight relative to SPARC, as well as a marginal rise in relative OSM. However, this study cannot conclusively establish a direct link between exercise training-induced elevations in myokines and the growth of prostate cancer cell lines.
It was concluded that after 6 months of arduous, multimodal exercise, the serum taken from mCRPC patients had a tumor-suppressive effect and provided evidence for increased myokine expression. Moreover, exercise-induced systemic alterations may decrease the growth of prostate cancer in men with advanced illnesses.
Future studies are needed to elucidate the impact of exercise on myokine expression, particularly the threshold exercise volume, intensity, and mode.
Reference:
Kim, J. S., Taaffe, D. R., Galvão, D. A., Hart, N. H., Gray, E., Ryan, C. J., Kenfield, S. A., Saad, F., & Newton, R. U. (2022). Exercise in advanced prostate cancer elevates myokine levels and suppresses in-vitro cell growth. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis, 25(1), 86-92. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41391-022-00504-x
