It’s the most tried and true health advice: regular exercise is key to warding off obesity, aging and chronic diseases. 

Mountains of research also shows working out just a few days a week could slash the risk of dying from cancer.

However, a new study has pinpointed a specific workout routine shown to slow the growth of cancer cells, even after just one session. 

In Australia, researchers enlisted women who had survived breast cancer to partake in either resistance training, like weightlifting, or high-intensity interval training (HIIT), characterized by brief, vigorous sessions of exercise with short rests. 

Their findings revealed that just after one 45-minute session of resistance training or HIIT, participants had up to 47 percent more myokines present in their blood. 

Myokines are proteins released by skeletal muscle cells during exercise that help muscles communicate with the rest of the body. 

They have also been shown to regulate metabolism and suppress molecules that cause inflammation, a key driver in cancer cell formation.  

The team estimated that the increased myokines produced may slow cancer growth by 20 to 30 percent.  

Researchers in Australia found resistance training and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) may slow cancer cell growth (stock image) 

Francesco Bettariga, the leading researcher of the study and a PhD student at Edith Cowan University, stated to the Daily Mail: ‘Our results show anti-cancer effects on a cellular level, offering a possible reason for how exercise lowers the risks of cancer progression, recurrence, and mortality. 

‘Even though there are limitations to our study and additional in vivo research is necessary, these findings underline the potential role of exercise in enhancing survival rates for cancer patients.’

Published earlier this summer in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, the study examined 32 patients who had undergone treatment for breast cancer, ranging from stage one to stage three, at least four months prior. 

The largest cancer stage group was stage two (41 percent). 

The average participant age was 59 with a body mass index (BMI) of 28, which is considered overweight but not obese. 

Participants in the resistance training group completed eight repetitions of five sets of exercises for major muscle groups. 

These included chest press, seated row, shoulder press, lateral pulldown, leg press, leg extension, leg curl and lunges. 

Participants in this group got one to two minutes between sets to rest. 

For the HIIT group, participants engaged in seven 30-second high-intensity exercise intervals on at least three of these machines: stationary bike, treadmill, rower, and cross-trainer. 

They had three-minute rest periods between sets. 

Bettariga told this website: ‘We selected two distinct exercise modalities—resistance and aerobic training—because they provide different physiological benefits: resistance training improves muscle strength, while aerobic training enhances cardiorespiratory fitness in order to determine which exercise could drive greater cancer-suppressive effects. 

‘Specifically, we used a high-intensity exercise to determine whether greater intensity could amplify these anti-cancer effects.’

Both groups completed about 45 minutes of exercise in total. 

Researchers also performed blood tests on participants at three separate times: before working out, immediately following the sessions and 30 minutes after working out. 

The team found that completing either the resistance or HIIT regimen just one time increased levels of myokines in participants’ blood.

The largest jump was in the myokine IL-6, which increased 47 percent in the HIIT group immediately after exercise. Myokine IL-6 is a protein released from muscles during exercise that plays a crucial role in immune function. 

Meanwhile, the resistance group showed a 23 percent increase in decorin, a myokin that regulates tissue growth, and a nine percent increase in IL-6. 

The team found myokine levels gradually decreased over time after participants finished working out, though they remained elevated. 

Based on results, researchers estimated the myokine levels produced from exercising could reduce the growth of cancer cells by 20 to 30 percent. 

Myokines have been shown to suppress inflammatory proteins called cytokines. Cytokines are secreted by immune cells to control inflammation.

However, high cytokine levels can trigger excess inflammation, which damages cell DNA and increases the risk of cancer cells forming. 

Breast cancer is one of the most common forms of the disease, striking 311,000 US women every year and killing 42,000 (stock image)

A recent study in JAMA found that breast cancer rates went up by about 0.79 percent each year during the study from from 2000 to 2019

Bettariga said: ‘We found that both resistance training and HIIT increased the release of myokines with anti-cancer properties after just a single exercise session. We then observed a reduction of up to 30 percent in cancer cell growth in [lab testing]. 

‘What stood out was that both modalities had comparable effects, suggesting that exercise intensity is the main driver of these anti-cancer changes, rather than the specific type of exercise performed.’

Breast cancer strikes 311,000 American women every year and kills 42,000, according to the American cancer society. 

While the disease generally has a high survival rate of 92 percent, that rate can drop as low as 33 percent if cancer cells spread to other areas.

It’s also on the rise among young women, with rates increasing by 0.8 percent every year from 2000 to 2019, one study suggests. Experts have tied this rise to hormone-disrupting chemicals and early menstruation, which can increase exposure to hormones like estrogen that can fuel breast cancer. 

Though the new study results are promising for breast cancer, it’s unclear if they would translate to other forms of the disease. 

Bettargia said: ‘Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and the leading cause of cancer-related death in women. Surprisingly, no studies with this specific design had been conducted in this population, making our findings highly relevant to millions of women living with breast cancer.’

There were several limitations, including the small sample size and focusing on only one form of cancer. 

Bettariga told this website that the team next plans to investigate these effects in other types of cancer and groups of people with the disease.

He said: ‘Furthermore, it is now time to examine the effects of regular, long-term exercise programs on these anti-cancer responses. We also aim to explore additional mechanisms particularly the role of the immune system, which plays a crucial part in controlling cancer cell growth.’