Possible mechanisms through which dietary lipids, calorie restriction, and exercise modulate breast cancer

A review of physical activity in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: Epidemiology, intervention, animal models, and clinical trials

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the deadliest types of cancer, and the increasing incidence of PDAC may be related to the prevalence of obesity. Physical activity (PA), a method known to mitigate obesity by increasing total energy expenditure, also modifies multiple cellular pathways associated with cancer hallmarks. Epidemiologic evidence has shown that PA can lower the risk of developing a variety of cancers, reduce some of the detrimental side effects of treatments, and improve patient's quality of life during cancer treatment. However, little is known about the pathways underlying the correlations observed between PA interventions and PDAC. Moreover, there is no standard dose of PA intervention that is ideal for PDAC prevention or as an adjuvant of cancer treatments. In this review, we summarize relevant literature showing how PDAC patients can benefit from PA, the potential of PA as an adjuvant treatment for PDAC, the studies using preclinical models of PDAC to study PA, and the clinical trials to date assessing the effects of PA in PDAC.

Usual physical activity and endogenous sex hormones in postmenopausal women: the European prospective investigation into cancer-norfolk population study

BACKGROUND

Short-term trials indicate that intensive physical activity may influence endogenous sex hormone concentrations. However, the relationship between usual daily physical activity and endogenous hormones in postmenopausal women in the general population is still uncertain.

OBJECTIVE AND METHODS

To determine the relationship between usual physical activity and endogenous sex hormones in postmenopausal women. A cross-sectional population-based study of 2,082 postmenopausal women ages 55 to 81 years, residing in the general community of Norfolk, United Kingdom, and not currently using hormone replacement therapy were chosen to participate. Physical activity in the past 1 year was assessed using a validated questionnaire, and endogenous sex hormone and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) concentrations were determined.

RESULTS

Usual physical activity levels were inversely associated with circulating concentrations of testosterone and estradiol, testosterone/SHBG ratio, and positively associated with SHBG. These associations were only slightly attenuated after adjusting for potential covariates including body mass index, smoking status, alcohol intake, and reproductive variables. Testosterone concentrations and testosterone/SHBG ratios were 19% [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 9-27%, P < 0.001] and 24.0% (95% CI, 13-34% P < 0.001) lower, respectively, whereas estradiol concentrations were 6% (95% CI, 0-12%; P < 0.05) lower in the highest compared with lowest activity levels, respectively. A decreasing trend for the estradiol/SHBG ratio and 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone concentrations was also observed. Androstenedione levels did not differ significantly according to physical activity.

CONCLUSIONS

Higher usual physical activity levels among postmenopausal women seem to be related to lower endogenous testosterone and estradiol concentrations. This may be one mechanism that could partly explain the reported inverse relationship between physical activity and breast cancer risk in some studies.

Associations between physical activity and susceptibility to cancer: possible mechanisms

Physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of all-cause and colonic cancers, and it seems to exert a weaker effect on the risk of breast, lung and reproductive tract tumours. This review examines possible mechanisms behind the observed associations. Restriction of physical activity by pre-existing disease may contribute to the association with lung cancers, but seems a less likely explanation for other types of tumour. Indirect associations through activity-related differences in body build or susceptibility to trauma seem of minor importance. Potential dietary influences include overall energy balance and energy expenditure, the intake and/or bioavailability of minerals, antioxidant vitamins and fibre, and the relative proportions of protein and fat ingested. Links between regular exercise and other facets of lifestyle that influence cancer risks are not very strong, although endurance athletes are not usually smokers, and regular leisure activity is associated with a high socioeconomic status which tends to reduce exposure to airborne carcinogens, both at work and at home. Overall susceptibility to cancer shows a 'U'-shaped relationship to body mass index (mass/height2) reflecting, in part, the adverse influences of cigarette smoking and a tall body build for those with low body mass indices and, in part, the adverse effect of obesity at the opposite end of the body mass index distribution. Obesity seems a major component in the exercise-cancer relationship, with a particular influence on reproductive tract tumours; it alters the pathways of estradiol metabolism, decreases estradiol binding and facilitates the synthesis of estrogens. Among the hormonal influences on cancer risk, insulin-like growth factors promote tumour development and exercise-mediated increases in cortisol and prostaglandin levels may depress cellular components of immune function. However, the most important change is probably the suppression of the gonadotropic axis. Apparent gender differences in the benefits associated with regular exercise reflect gender differences in the hormonal milieu and also a failure to adapt activity questionnaires to traditional patterns of physical activity in females. The immune system is active at various stages of tumour initiation, growth and metastasis. However, acute and chronic changes in immune response induced by moderate exercise are rather small, and their practical importance remains debatable. At present, the oncologist is confronted by a plethora of interesting hypotheses, and further research is needed to decide which are of practical importance.

Eicosapentaenoic acid and sulphur substituted fatty acid analogues inhibit the proliferation of human breast cancer cells in culture

Numerous studies have shown dietary fatty acids to influence the progression of several types of cancers. The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the influence of various types of fatty acids, including omega-3 fatty acids and a new class of hypolipidemic peroxisome proliferating fatty acid analogues, namely the 3-thia fatty acids, on MCF-7 human breast cancer cell growth. 3-thia fatty acids represent non-beta-oxidizable fatty acid analogues in which a sulphur atom substitutes for the beta-methylene group (3-position) in the saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. The effects of increasing concentrations of palmitic acid, tetradecylthioacetic acid (a 3-thia fatty acid), eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, and two 3-thia polyunsaturated fatty acids on the proliferation of MCF-7 cells, maintained in serum-free culture, were studied. At the highest concentration of fatty acid used (64 microM) tetradecylthioacetic acid was found to be the most effective of all fatty acids tested in inhibiting cell growth, whilst palmitic acid and docosahexaenoic acid had no significant effect on cell growth. Thus, of the two dietary polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, only eicosapentaenoic acid possesses an inhibitory effect on the proliferation of MCF-7 cells. In all cases the inhibitory effect of the fatty acid was found to be reversible. Tetradecylthioacetic acid has been shown to be a potent peroxisome proliferator. It was, therefore, hypothesized that tetradecylthioacetic acid may inhibit the human MCF-7 cell growth by increasing the level of oxidative stress within the cell. However, use of agents which modify the cell's protective apparatus against oxidative stress had no influence on the inhibitory effect of tetradecylthioacetic acid. These experiments indicate that tetradecylthioacetic acid inhibits cell growth by mechanisms which may be independent of oxidative status.

The growth inhibitory effect of conjugated linoleic acid on MCF-7 cells is related to estrogen response system

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has been shown to have a direct oncostatic action on MCF-7 human breast cancer cells in culture. However, the mechanism involved is not fully elucidated. In this study we have examined whether the inhibitor action is related to the estrogen responsiveness of MCF-7 cells. Our results demonstrate that CLA selectively inhibits proliferation of ER positive MCF-7 cells as compared with ER negative MDA-MB-231 cells. Cell cycle studies indicated that a higher percentage of CLA treated MCF-7 cells remained in the G0/G1 phase as compared to control and those treated with linoleic acid (LA). CLA also inhibited expression of c-myc in MCF-7 cells. These results demonstrate that CLA may inhibit MCF-7 cell growth by interfering with the hormone regulated mitogenic pathway. We are reporting for the first time the involvement of CLA, a dietary factor, in the regulation of hormone mediated mitogenic pathways in ER positive breast cancer cell proliferation in vitro.

Effects of dietary restriction and exercise on the age-related pathology of the rat

Intervention of the aging process is an effective, experimental means of uncovering the bases of aging. The most efficacious and commonly used intervention used to retard the aging processes is dietary restriction (DR). It increases mean and maximum life spans, delays the appearance, frequency, and severity of many age-related diseases, and more importantly, attenuates much of the physiological decline associated with age. Although the subject of intense research, the mechanism by which DR alters the aging processes is still unknown. Physical exercise is another effective intervention shown to affect aging phenomena, especially when applied in combination with DR. Mild exercise in concert with DR is beneficial, but vigorous exercise coupled with DR could be deleterious. With regard to pathology, exercise generally exerts a salutary influence on age-related diseases, both neoplastic and non-neoplastic, and this effect may contribute to the increase in median life span seen with exercised rats. Exercise coupled with 40% DR was found to suppress the incidence of fatal neoplastic disease compared to the sedentary DR group. Exercise with mild DR suppressed the incidence of multiple fatal disease and chronic nephropathy, and also delayed the occurrence of many age-related lesions compared to the ad libitum (AL) control group. However, these effects may have little bearing on the aging process per se, as maximum life span is only minimally affected. Although not as intensively studied as DR, results from studies that utilize exercise as a research probe, either alone or in combination with DR, have helped to assess the validity of proposed mechanisms for DR and aging itself. Neither the retardation of growth rate nor the increase in physical activity, observed with either exercise or DR, appear to contribute to the anti-aging action of DR. Moreover, results from lifelong exercise studies indicate that the effects of DR do not depend upon changes in energy availability or metabolic rate. The mechanisms involving effects on adiposity or immune function are also inadequate explanations for the action of DR on aging. Of the proposed mechanisms, only one, as postulated by the Oxidative Stress Hypothesis of Aging, tenably accounts for the known effects of DR and exercise on aging.