The Effect of Endurance Training Along with Curcumin on VEGF-A Level and VEGFR Gene Expression in Cancer Tissue of Female Mice with Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer and leading cause of death among women worldwide. The aim of the present study was to determine synergistic effects of 5 weeks of endurance training along with curcumin on cancer progression, levels of VEGF-A, and gene expression of VEGFR in cancer tissue of female Mice with breast cancer.

The present study was an experimental study. Forty female BALB/c mice were transplanted with 4T1 tumors and randomly divided into four groups including an endurance training group (E) (5 weeks, five days a week), a curcumin group (CC), an endurance training along with curcumin (E-C), and a control group (C). All animals were killed 24 hours following the last training session, and tumors were immediately extracted. Levels of VEGF-A and gene expression of VEGFR were determined by a western blot and quantitative real-time PCR, respectively. Data were analyzed with a one-way analysis of variance. The level of significance was set at 0.05.

The results of the present study showed a significant decrease in cancer progression (p < 0.001), tumor levels of VEGFA (p < 0.001), and VEGFR expression (p < 0.001) in the E, CC, and—especially—E-C groups compared with the control group.

It seems that 5 weeks of endurance training in combination with curcumin supplementation may have greater inhibitory effect on angiogenesis mechanisms, including VEGF-A/VEFR axis, resulting in greater decrease in cancer progression in mice with breast cancer in comparison with E and CC groups.