Physical activity and its mechanistic effects on prostate cancer - Abstract

Beneficial effects of physical activity have been illustrated in numerous aspects of health.

With the increasing incidence of prostate cancer and changes in physical activity of men, understanding the link between the two has important implications for changing this cancer burden. Both positive and negative associations between physical activity and prostate cancer have been previously demonstrated in observational epidemiological studies. Elucidating the biological mechanisms would lead to a better understanding of how physical activity influences the progression of prostate cancer. This review was undertaken to: (1) identify evidence in literature that demonstrates the effects of physical activity on skeletal muscle secretomes, (2) indicate the plausible signaling pathways these proteins might activate, and (3) identify evidence in literature that demonstrates the roles of the signaling pathways in prostate cancer progression and regression. We also discuss proposed biological mechanisms and signaling pathways by which physical activity may prevent the development and progression of prostate cancer. We discuss proteins involved in the normal and aberrant growth and development of the prostate gland that may be affected by physical activity. We further identify future directions for research, including a better understanding of the biological mechanisms, the need to standardize physical activity and identify mechanistic end points of physical activity that can then be correlated with outcomes.

Written by:
Wekesa A, Harrison M, Watson RW.   Are you the author?
UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science, UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Science, Waterford Institute of Technology, Waterford, Ireland.

Reference: Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2015 Mar 24. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1038/pcan.2015.9


PubMed Abstract
PMID: 25800589

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