A new study conducted at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Utah suggests that exercise has a beneficial effect on the body, such as reprogramming, that alters the gene’s function, identity or behavior.
Vicky Bandera, a PhD student at the University and project lead, noted that Epigenetic modifications are physical or chemical changes to DNA and the varied proteins that manage gene expression while not altering the underlying DNA sequence.
Gene Expression vs. Reprogramming
Gene expression is the is the process that converts information into a functional product such as a protein. Gene reprogramming is a process altering the gene to change its identity.
According to Bandera, the study demonstrates those changes and offers a better understanding of the effect activity has on gene expression.
The researchers worked with both:
- Active: 150+minutes per week and
- Inactive: less than one hour of exercise each week.
They analyzed 112 patients with stage one through three colon cancer, specifically tumors and visceral adipose tissue (fat deep in the abdomen). In the category of metabolism, nearby genes appeared more active. This suggests that exercise could reshape not only tumors, but other nearby tissues.
The study is the forerunner of future randomized trials investigating the effects exercise has on gene expression. It is to be noted that the study is based on data that is self-reported, but Bandera hopes that in the future studies will explore its effect on the body at the biological level.
Another goal that may be achieved through rigorous evidence would be personalized prescriptions for exercise in accordance with tumor biology.
Bandera emphasizes that it is about much more than just fitness. She commented that early indications suggest that improved exercise routines may change cancer’s behavior at the molecular level. Bandera further stated that medical research will not occur without requisite funding from science to population studies.
Her motivation for the study was to see patients struggling with side effects and to know that much more work must be done.
