10/08/2025
🔬 A single workout could be more powerful than we ever thought.
Multiple studies are now revealing that just one session of exercise can trigger biological changes linked to cancer protection and even reduced cancer cell growth. This isn’t about long-term fitness—this is about what happens in your body immediately after you move.
Let’s look at two groundbreaking studies shedding light on this phenomenon.
🇩🇰 The Copenhagen Study (Frank W. Booth & Team)
Researchers in Denmark, including exercise biologist Frank W. Booth, conducted an in vitro study where they collected blood serum from people before and immediately after a single HIIT session.
🔬 What does "in vitro" mean?
It means the experiment was done in a lab dish, not in a living person. Serum from human blood was applied to cultured cancer cells to see how they responded.
🧪 When aggressive triple-negative breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) were exposed to post-exercise serum, their growth was reduced by 19–29% compared to pre-exercise serum.
🧠Why? Exercise rapidly increases adrenaline, IL-6, and other signaling molecules that:
- Mobilize natural killer (NK) cells
- Suppress inflammation
- Alter the blood environment to become hostile to cancer cells
👉 Think of it like changing the soil so weeds struggle to grow—even if the seeds are still there.
🇦🇺 The Edith Cowan University Study (Francesco Bettariga)
Now, new research led by Dr. Francesco Bettariga at Edith Cowan University is taking this further—focusing on resistance training and HIIT in breast cancer survivors.
They found that one session of intense exercise caused a rapid surge in myokines—proteins released by working muscles, including SPARC and oncostatin M, which have been shown to:
- Directly inhibit tumor growth
- Reduce chronic inflammation
- Support immune defense
đź’ˇ What makes this study so significant?
It shows that even after a cancer diagnosis, the body retains the ability to mount a powerful, natural anti-cancer response through exercise.
And crucially, muscle isn’t just for strength—it’s a dynamic endocrine organ, producing protective molecules on demand.
âś… The Big Picture
We’re not saying one workout cures cancer.
But science is now showing that each time you exercise, you’re dosing your body with protective biology.
➡️ You change your blood.
➡️ You activate your immune system.
➡️ You create a body environment where cancer finds it harder to survive.
As researchers put it:
“Exercise is medicine in motion.”
And the prescription? Move—in a way that challenge your current strength and cardio fitness levels.
