The effect of 8 weeks of endurance training on serum levels of IL-10 and IL-17 in elderly women with breast cancer

Inflammation plays an important role in cancer progression. In contrast, different studies indicated that exercise training by decreasing inflammation and improving anti-inflammatory factors has positive effects in improving the condition of patients with breast cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of endurance training at low to moderate intensity on serum levels of IL-10 and IL-17 in women with breast cancer.
For this purpose, 50 patients with stage 2 breast cancer from Kerman city that completed chemotherapy courses and undergoing therapy with tamoxifen recruited and randomly divided into two groups: exercise (n = 30) and control (n = 20).Training group performed endurance training for 8 weeks with intensity between 40 to 55 percent of target heart rate .Before and after the exercise protocol, blood samples were collected from both groups and serum levels of IL-10 and IL-17 were measured using ELISA kit from Booster company. Analysis of covariance were used for detecting any alteration in variables.
Data showed a significant decrease in serum levels of IL-17 (F=2.37, p=0.015) in exercised group against control group, whereas no significant difference in level of IL-10 (F=2.62, p=0.113) was observed between control and exercise groups.
Regular moderate exercise training has anti-inflammatory and cytokine modulatory effects and through reducing serum levels of IL-17 and modulation of IL-10, plays an important role in improving the condition of patients with breast cancer.