Impact of Structured Exercise Training on Tumor-Related Inflammatory and Oxidative Stress Biomarkers in Breast Cancer Patients

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is associated with chronic systemic inflammation and increased oxidative stress, which may contribute to tumor progression and treatment-related complications. Exercise training has been proposed as a non-pharmacological strategy for improving inflammatory and oxidative balance in cancer patients.

Objective: To determine the effects of a structured combined resistance and endurance exercise training program on inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers in women with breast cancer.

Methods: This prospective interventional multicenter study included 120 women with breast cancer, randomly allocated into an exercise group (n=60) and a usual-care control group (n=60). The exercise group participated in a supervised combined resistance and moderate-intensity endurance training program for 12 weeks, three sessions per week. Blood samples were obtained before and after the intervention. Serum C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured.

Results: At baseline, there were no significant differences between the exercise and control groups for CRP, IL-6, TNF-α, MDA, TAC, or SOD (p>0.05). After 12 weeks, the exercise group showed a significant reduction in CRP from 8.42±2.31 to 5.63±1.74 mg/L (−33.1%, p<0.001), IL-6 from 7.18±2.04 to 4.92±1.46 pg/mL (−31.5%, p<0.001), TNF-α from 6.47±1.72 to 4.51±1.29 pg/mL (−30.3%, p<0.001), and MDA from 4.86±1.21 to 3.47±0.89 nmol/mL (−28.6%, p<0.001). In contrast, TAC increased from 0.81±0.16 to 1.04±0.18 mmol/L (+28.4%, p<0.001) and SOD activity increased from 2.91±0.64 to 3.67±0.71 U/mL (+26.1%, p<0.001). The control group demonstrated comparatively smaller changes, with no statistically significant improvement in most biomarkers. Between-group analysis demonstrated significantly greater improvement in all measured biomarkers in the exercise group compared with controls (p<0.001).

Conclusion: A 12-week structured combination of resistance and endurance exercise significantly reduced systemic inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers while enhancing antioxidant capacity in women with breast cancer. These findings suggest that supervised exercise training may serve as a beneficial adjunct to conventional breast cancer management by improving the systemic inflammatory and redox environment.