According to a new study by scientists from the University of Newcastle (UK), presented at the annual conference on physiology 2021, regular exercise of moderate intensity can reduce the risk of bowel cancer.
Previous research has shown that regular physical activity reduces the risk of bowel cancer because it helps maintain a healthy weight. But the evidence from this work of scientists suggests that exercise can reduce a person’s chances of getting bowel cancer, even if it does not lead to losing extra pounds.
The study involved 16 men with multiple risk factors for bowel cancer (all participants were over 50 years old, overweight or obese, and did not exercise). Scientists collected blood samples from participants before and after a 45-minute bicycling at moderate intensity and before and after a control experiment without strenuous activity.
First, the experts found out whether exercise affects the concentration of specific proteins in the blood. Then in the laboratory, they added blood serum to the cancer cells formed in the intestines and watched them grow for 48 hours.
The results showed that molecules that enter the bloodstream during exercise could act directly on intestinal cancer cells, slowing their growth. The scientists need more research to see if the results of this experiment apply to real-life cancers, as they evaluated the effects of exercise on cancer cells grown in the laboratory.
We also want to understand which molecules in the blood are responsible for reducing the growth of cancer cells in the intestine and how much exercise performed at high intensity has a more pronounced effect on the growth of cancer cells compared to exercise performed at moderate intensity-says Dr. Sam Orange, lead author of the study.