Roundup: How Exercising Can Help Lower Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence; and More News

Study: How a Single Workout May Help Fight Breast Cancer Recurrence

Past research has found that regular physical activity can improve fatigue, physical fitness, muscle strength, and body composition in people with breast cancer.

Studies also suggest that those who are more physically active may have about a 20 percent lower risk of cancer coming back and dying from the disease. High levels of fitness are linked to up to a 46 percent lower risk of death from all causes.

In a new study, researchers in Australia investigated whether a single workout could boost levels of anti-cancer myokines in breast cancer survivors, and whether blood taken after exercise could directly slow cancer cell growth in the lab.

The Role of Myokines

Skeletal muscle isn’t just for movement — it also acts like an endocrine organ, releasing chemical messengers called myokines during muscle contractions. These proteins travel through the bloodstream and can affect many organs, including potentially influencing cancer cell behavior. Certain myokines — such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), oncostatin M (OSM), decorin, and SPARC — have shown the ability in lab studies to slow cancer growth, encourage cancer cell death (apoptosis), and reduce the spread of tumors.

Researchers collected the blood of participants at three points: before exercise, immediately after, and 30 minutes after. They then measured myokine levels and exposed an aggressive breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231) to the participants’ serum (the liquid part of the blood) to see how the cells responded.

The participants were:

• 32 women who had completed treatment for stage I–III breast cancer at least four months earlier.
• Average age: about 59 years.
• Average body mass index (BMI): 27.9 kg/m².
• All were medically cleared for exercise.

Participants were randomly assigned to one of two exercise types:

1. Resistance Training (RT): Weight-based exercises targeting major muscle groups, done at high effort for about 45 minutes.
2. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT): Short bursts of intense cardio alternated with active recovery, also lasting about 45 minutes.

The Study’s Key Findings

Both RT and HIIT led to:

• Increased myokine levels: IL-6, OSM, decorin, and SPARC all rose after exercise.
• Reduced cancer cell growth in the lab: Serum collected after exercise slowed cancer cell proliferation compared to pre-exercise samples.

These effects were observed after just one workout, suggesting that exercise triggers immediate biological changes with potential anti-cancer benefits, researchers concluded. While both exercise types were effective, the study did not find one to be significantly better than the other for these specific outcomes.

Breast cancer remains one of the most common and deadly cancers among women worldwide. In 2022, there were 2.3 million new cases and about 660,000 deaths. Even after completing treatment, survivors face a continued risk of recurrence—estimated between 10 percent and 30 percent depending on factors such as cancer type, stage, and time since treatment.

The new research adds to growing evidence that exercise can directly influence cancer biology—possibly by flooding the bloodstream with myokines that create an environment less favorable for cancer growth.

Researchers Use Blood RNA to Potentially Diagnose ‘Chronic Fatigue Syndrome’

A new study from Cornell University may pave the way toward a diagnostic test for myalgic encephalomyelitis ME/CFS — more commonly known as “chronic fatigue syndrome” — a debilitating illness often misunderstood and misdiagnosed due to overlapping symptoms with other conditions.

Researchers have identified distinct RNA biomarkers in blood plasma that could distinguish ME/CFS patients from healthy individuals.

The Challenge of Diagnosing ME/CFS

ME/CFS is a complex, chronic condition characterized by persistent fatigue, cognitive dysfunction (“brain fog”), unrefreshing sleep, dizziness, and immune irregularities. Due to its wide-ranging symptoms, diagnosing ME/CFS has long posed a challenge. There is currently no definitive laboratory test, and physicians must rely on patient-reported symptoms—many of which overlap with other illnesses.

This diagnostic gap is what the Cornell research team, led by Anne Gardella (a doctoral student in biochemistry, molecular and cell biology), sought to address through a novel use of cell-free RNA and machine learning, according to a news release on the study’s findings.

When cells die, they release fragments of RNA into the bloodstream. These molecules offer somewhat of a biological fingerprint — capturing details about tissue injury, inflammation, and gene activity across the body. By isolating and sequencing this cell-free RNA from blood plasma, researchers can gain insights into various biological processes without invasive procedures.

This technique has previously been applied to identify Kawasaki disease and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). Now, researchers are using it to uncover biological signatures specific to ME/CFS.

A Machine Learning Approach to Diagnosis

As part of the study, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the WE&ME Foundation, blood samples were collected from both ME/CFS patients and a matched control group of healthy but sedentary individuals.

Researchers found over 700 RNA transcripts that were significantly different between the groups. Machine-learning models were then trained to identify these differences and classify samples. The models showed a 77 percent accuracy rate in detecting ME/CFS—an encouraging result for a disease with no current biomarker-based test.

The analysis revealed signs of broad immune dysfunction in ME/CFS patients. Among the most elevated were plasmacytoid dendritic cells—immune cells involved in antiviral responses—suggesting a possible prolonged or overactive immune reaction.

Although the test is not yet ready for clinical use, this research marks a significant step toward understanding the biological basis of ME/CFS, the study concludes. The findings also have implications for distinguishing ME/CFS from similar post-infection syndromes such as long COVID.

“By reading the molecular fingerprints that cells leave behind in blood, we’ve taken a concrete step toward a test for ME/CFS,” said co-senior study author, Iwijn De Vlaminck, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Cornell, in a news release. “This study shows that a tube of blood can provide clues about the disease’s biology.”

Smoking Cessation Linked to Recovery from Other Addictions, NIH Study Finds

Quitting smoking may do more than protect the heart and lungs. New findings from a large, nationally representative study suggest that adults in recovery from alcohol or other drug use disorders are more likely to sustain remission if they also stop smoking cigarettes.

The research, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), and drawn from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, adds weight to the idea that treating tobacco use alongside other addictions can improve overall outcomes.

Researchers analyzed data from 2,652 adults aged 18 and older who had a history of a substance use disorder and experienced a change in their recovery status over four years. Participants reported their tobacco use and other substance use annually.

A shift from current smoker to former smoker was linked to 42 percent greater odds of being in recovery from a non-tobacco substance use disorder during the study period. While odds are not the same as risk, this is a meaningful association that persisted after accounting for multiple factors that can influence recovery.

“We now have strong evidence from a national sample that quitting cigarette smoking predicts improved recovery from other substance use disorders,” said Nora Volkow, M.D., director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), in a news release. “It underscores the importance of addressing different addictions together, rather than in isolation.”

Tobacco use is common among people with alcohol or other drug addictions, and nicotine dependence can be particularly persistent. Earlier studies hinted that quitting smoking might support recovery from other substances, but many of those analyses were limited to specific treatment settings or did not include enough people to test the association for the broader population. By using the ongoing PATH Study—which follows youth and adults across the United States regardless of whether they use tobacco—the current analysis is more generalizable to millions of adults with substance use disorders.

Many addiction programs have historically delayed tobacco treatment, fearing that quitting smoking might jeopardize recovery from other substances. The new findings point in the opposite direction.

“Although the health benefits of quitting smoking are well-known, smoking cessation has not been seen as a high priority in drug addiction treatment programs,” noted Wilson Compton, M.D., deputy director of NIDA and senior author of the study, in a news release. “This finding bolsters support for including smoking cessation as part of addiction treatment.”

The study design was longitudinal, meaning it tracked people over time, which strengthens the case for a connection between quitting smoking and improved recovery outcomes. However, the analysis cannot prove cause and effect. Further research is needed to confirm a causal link and to identify the most effective ways to help people in treatment or recovery stop smoking.