Exercise May Improve Effects of Radiation Therapy in Prostate Cancer

Radiation therapy, also called radiotherapy, uses high-energy rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation may be a primary treatment for prostate cancer in some people. Dryden Baumfalk, MS, from Kansas State University, along with the Behnke lab, studied the effect of both a single exercise session and chronic exercise training on the effectiveness of radiation therapy in a rat model of prostate cancer. They found that exercising animals showed improvements in aerobic capacity and an increase in radiosensitivity of tumors compared to sedentary rats. “Exercise [has] the potential to augment the tumor microenvironment favorably to enhance radiotherapy compared to sedentary counterparts while maintaining or improving any cancer-associated [reduction] in aerobic capacity,” Baumfalk said.

The research will be presented virtually at the American Physiological Society (APS) Integrative Physiology of Exercise (IPE) conference. Request the Abstract: “Effect of Acute and Chronic Exercise on Radiosensitivity in Tumor-Bearing Rats”