In participants in the UK Biobank and a US National Survey, inflammation scores increased with age and in cases of chronic health conditions, and correlated positively with cancer incidence and mortality. 8 cancers were identified as inflammation-related, and aerobic physical activity correlated negatively with inflammation and cancer mortality. In C57 mice and Syrian hamsters, exercise impacted expression of genes associated with senescence, innate/adaptive immunity, and apoptosis, and boosted anti-inflammatory serum cytokines, compared to non-exercised controls. Mki67+ B and T cells had particularly high senescence-related gene scores.
Contributed by Alex Najibi
ABSTRACT: The associations between physical activity (PA) and the incidence and mortality of cancers and their underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Using mutually verifiable cohort studies with 443,768 adults in the United Kingdom and United States, we find that systemic inflammation, whose level increases with age, is dose-dependently associated with higher risks of eight inflammation-related cancers and all-cancer mortality. PA is dose-dependently associated with lower levels of systemic inflammation. Aerobic PA (117-500 min/week) is significantly associated with lower risks of inflammation-related cancers and all-cancer mortality. Single-cell sequencing, RNA sequencing, cytometry, and inflammation array show that aerobic exercise training downregulates immunosenescence-related gene expression, Mki67(+) immune cells, and pro-inflammatory molecules and upregulates anti-inflammatory factors, Flt3(+) immune cells, natural killers, and T lymphocytes in mice and hamsters, especially in older animals. These findings link exercise training to cancer risk reduction by alleviating inflammation, decreasing immunosenescence, and improving the reservoirs of overall immunity for cancer prevention.
Author Info: (1) Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Key Laboratory of Biological Defense, Ministry of Education, Second Military Medical Uni
Author Info: (1) Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Key Laboratory of Biological Defense, Ministry of Education, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Bioprotection, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China. (2) Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Key Laboratory of Biological Defense, Ministry of Education, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Bioprotection, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China. (3) Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Key Laboratory of Biological Defense, Ministry of Education, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Bioprotection, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China. (4) Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Key Laboratory of Biological Defense, Ministry of Education, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Bioprotection, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China. (5) Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Key Laboratory of Biological Defense, Ministry of Education, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Bioprotection, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China. (6) Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Key Laboratory of Biological Defense, Ministry of Education, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Bioprotection, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China. (7) Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Key Laboratory of Biological Defense, Ministry of Education, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Bioprotection, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China. (8) Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Key Laboratory of Biological Defense, Ministry of Education, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Bioprotection, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China. (9) Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Key Laboratory of Biological Defense, Ministry of Education, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Bioprotection, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China. (10) Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Key Laboratory of Biological Defense, Ministry of Education, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Bioprotection, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China. (11) Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Key Laboratory of Biological Defense, Ministry of Education, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Bioprotection, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China. (12) Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China. (13) Department of Epidemiology, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Key Laboratory of Biological Defense, Ministry of Education, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Medical Bioprotection, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China. Electronic address: gcao@smmu.edu.cn.
