Effect of Acute Exercise on Serum Myokine Levels in Breast Cancer Survivors

Objectives. Physical activity exerts anti-carcinogenic effects (ACE) through mechanisms such as reduced cancer cell proliferation, decreased inflammation, and modulation of systemic risk factors. These effects may be mediated by exercise-induced changes in biomarker expression. This pilot study examined the effect of acute exercise on serum myokine levels in breast cancer (BC) survivors. The focus was on markers associated with cancer progression, immune response, and metabolism, including cytokines.
Materials and Methods. Seven women (aged 45±7 years, BMI 27±4.8), 6-12 months after BC treatment, completed three high intensity (85 to 95% heart rate reserve), but different modality (interval vs continuous vs incremental) exercise protocols. Blood samples were collected before and immediately after each exercise session. For each sample IL-6, oncostatin M, IL-15, fibroblast growth factor 21, osteonectin, and neurotrophic factors (BDNF) were measured by Human Myokine Magnetic Bead Panel, HMYOMAG-56K (Millipore,Billerica,MA,USA) on a Magpix analyzer (Austin,TX,USA). After checking normality Friedman’s test was used for data analysis.
Results. When analyzing all patients as a single, uniform group, no significant changes between the exercise interventions or time points were detected in any of the evaluated biomarkers (p>0.05). Conversely, each individual patient exhibited varying responses to acute exercise, with differing trends (positive or negative) and magnitudes of change. For example, BDNF post/pre-exercise ratio ranged from 0.5 to 2.8, and osteonectin (SPARC) post/pre-exercise ratio ranged from 0.7 to 1.9.
Conclusions. No significant differences in biomarker expression were observed when comparing the effects of the three exercise types. However, individual responses to training should be considered as a potential factor influencing biomarker variability and thus could be a target for personalized medical therapy.