Do sports and a healthy lifestyle have a positive impact on health particularly the prostate?
This was the central question during the last session of Day 2 at the 8th European Meeting on Urological Cancers (EMUC16) in Milan, Italy. With session chair Hein van Poppel (BE) and Sabine Brookman-May (DE), two speakers explored the role of sports and lifestyle and outlined the most relevant developments in the field.
“There is strong observational evidence that favours physical exercise. But factors such as intensity and timing are important,” said urologist Derek Rosario (GB) who discussed the role of physical activity, sports and lifestyle in oncology.
Rosario looked at early prostate cancer disease and cited meta-analytic studies on prostate cancer deaths. He also discussed mechanisms such as indirect effects on body fatness, insulin resistance and circulation, among others.
In his concluding remarks, he said the dose-response is still not clearly worked out, but added that there is “Level 1 evidence of supervised exercise (aerobic and resistance) in ameliorating effects of ADT.”
Maarten Albersen (BE) gave a comprehensive overview on the physiopathological impact on lifestyle on prostate health, inflammation and carcinogenesis, examining various aspects such as diet, sex, metabolism, smoking and medication.
“Several lifestyle factors positive or negatively impact the risk of developing prostate cancer,” said Albersen. “The main mechanisms include epigenetic changes, reduction of inflammation, reduction of oxidative stress and direct paracrine/endocrine signaling.”
He added though that “these observational data do not allow for conclusions on the use of lifestyle measures as chemoprevention.”
In rounding-up the discussion, Brookman-May said “strategies for integrating exercise programmes into standard clinical practice are needed,” as she mentioned that it would be worthwhile for doctors to advise their patients to practice a healthy lifestyle by avoiding smoking and engaging in sports.
