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Review
. 2024 Aug;13(8):e12500.
doi: 10.1002/jev2.12500.

From sweat to hope: The role of exercise-induced extracellular vesicles in cancer prevention and treatment

Alicia Llorente  1   2   3 , Agnese Brokāne  4 , Agata Mlynska  5   6 , Marju Puurand  7 , Krizia Sagini  1   2 , Signe Folkmane  4 , Marit Hjorth  8 , Beatriz Martin-Gracia  1   2 , Silvana Romero  1   2 , Diana Skorinkina  4 , Mārtiņš Čampa  9 , Rūdolfs Cešeiko  9 , Nadezhda Romanchikova  4 , Aija Kļaviņa  9   10 , Tuuli Käämbre  7 , Aija Linē  4
Affiliations
Review

From sweat to hope: The role of exercise-induced extracellular vesicles in cancer prevention and treatment

Alicia Llorente et al. J Extracell Vesicles. 2024 Aug.

Abstract

The benefits of regular physical exercise on cancer prevention, as well as reducing fatigue, treatment side effects and recurrence, and improving quality of life and overall survival of cancer patients, are increasingly recognised. Initial studies showed that the concentration of extracellular vesicles (EVs) increases during physical activity and that EVs carry biologically active cargo. These EVs are released by blood cells, skeletal muscle and other organs involved in exercise, thus suggesting that EVs may mediate tissue crosstalk during exercise. This possibility triggered a great interest in the study of the roles of EVs in systemic adaptation to exercise and in their potential applications in the prevention and treatment of various diseases, including cancer. This review presents studies exploring the concentration and molecular cargo of EVs released during exercise. Furthermore, we discuss putative stimuli that may trigger EV release from various cell types, the biological functions and the impact of exercise-induced EVs on cancer development and progression. Understanding the interplay between exercise, EVs, and cancer biology may offer insights into novel therapeutic strategies and preventive measures for cancer.

Keywords: EV RNA cargo; EV protein cargo; cancer; exercise‐induced extracellular vesicles; muscle‐derived EVs; physical exercise.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Parental cell types and potential stimuli that trigger EV release during physical exercise. Abbreviations: SGCA, alpha‐sarcoglycan; NK cell, natural killer cells; MHC, Major histocompatibility complex; RBC, red blood cells; ROS, reactive oxygen species.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Contribution of exercise‐induced EVs to various anti‐cancer mechanisms. Abbreviations: SGCA, alpha‐sarcoglycan; NK cell, natural killer cell; RBC, red blood cell.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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