Cancer Research UK has launched a study aimed at exploring exercise training as a new treatment for prostate cancer.
The study called PANTERA will involve 50 subjects diagnosed with prostate cancer, but whose disease have not spread. Half of the men will be assigned to the guided exercise group tasked with carrying 2.5 hours of aerobic exercise each week for 12 months with the guidance of a gym trainer as well as free access to gyms in their local area. While the other half will be simply provided information on the good that exercise does for cancer patients.
When prostate cancer has not spread, it can sometimes be treated with radiotherapy or surgery, but these treatments have side effects. As such, many patients choose to undergo active surveillance, monitoring the progression of the disease instead.
All of the subjects part of PANTERA are on active surveillance and will continue to do so for the duration of the study. Information gathered during active surveillance will also be used for the study.
If the subjects successfully complete their 12-month exercise regimen, the study is expected to move on to a full-scale clinical trial to see how active surveillance combined with exercise can benefit some patients with prostate cancer.
Believed to be the first of its kind in the world, PANTERA aims to assess whether regular exercise may be able to help prevent prostate cancer from progressing to other parts of the body and, thus, a viable treatment.
"Evidence suggests that men who are physically active after a prostate diagnosis have better cancer survival than men who aren't active," said Dr. Liam Bourke, the study's leader.
However, just how exactly this works is not clear, but researchers are thinking it might have to do with how exercise influences genes to regulate DNA repair and the growth of cancer cells.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer affecting men in the UK, with some 43,400 new cases diagnosed and 10,800 deaths annually. There are different types of the cancer and some grow slowly and have a low risk of spreading while others progress aggressively.
According to Cancer Research UK's Malcolm Mason, a prostate expert, results from PANTERA could also shed light on the potential of exercise as supplemental therapy for other cancer types as well.
Photo: Ron Merk | Flickr
