There are about 2,617,682 men currently living with prostate cancer in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute. And sometimes, at this age, it seems like everywhere you look, another man is getting diagnosed, watching and waiting, or getting treated for prostate cancer.
Exercise has already been shown to lower the risk of death among prostate cancer patients, but now, researchers report that may have a clue why, and it’s to do with brisk walking.
It turns out that “men who walked at a fast pace prior to a prostate cancer diagnosis had more regularly shaped blood vessels in their prostate tumors compared with men who walked slowly,” according to new findings presented in San Diego at the American Association for Cancer Research-Prostate Cancer Foundation Conference on Advances in Prostate Cancer Research.
Here’s more from the news release:
Men who engage in higher levels of physical activity have been reported to have a lower risk of prostate cancer recurrence and mortality compared with men who participate in little or no physical activity. The biological mechanisms underlying this association are not known.
“Prior research has shown that men with prostate tumors containing more regularly shaped blood vessels have a more favorable prognosis compared with men with prostate tumors containing mostly irregularly shaped blood vessels,” said Erin Van Blarigan, Sc.D., assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco. “In this study, we found that men who reported walking at a brisk pace had more regularly shaped blood vessels in their prostate tumors compared with men who reported walking at a less brisk pace.
“Our findings suggest a possible mechanism by which exercise may improve outcomes in men with prostate cancer,” continued Van Blarigan. “Although data from randomized, controlled trials are needed before we can conclude that exercise causes a change in vessel regularity or clinical outcomes in men with prostate cancer, our study supports the growing evidence of the benefits of exercise, such as brisk walking, for men with prostate cancer.” Continue reading