How Exercise Keeps Your Cancer Defenses Up

Pumped Up: Your muscles do a lot more than help you lift things or power through a workout. New research published in Nature Communications found that healthy skeletal muscle releases tiny particles called extracellular vesicles that carry signals capable of suppressing tumor growth. So as our muscles weaken with age, the body produces fewer of these protective particles and the signals they carry become less potent.

The Study: Researchers focused on sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass and strength. Using animal models, they found that sarcopenic muscle secretes fewer extracellular vesicles, and those vesicles contain lower levels of a microRNA called miR-7a-5p, which helps restrain tumor growth. Exercise appears to reactivate the biological pathway responsible for vesicle release.

The Takeaway: Staying active as you age may help maintain a biological defense system your body already has, one that goes well beyond what happens at the gym.

Keep in Mind: The research was conducted in animal models. Scientists plan to validate these findings in human samples before drawing clinical conclusions.