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Effectiveness of physical activity on immunity markers and quality of life in cancer patient: a systematic review

Al-Mhanna SB 1 , Wan Ghazali WS 1 , Mohamed M 1 , Rabaan AA 2 , Santali EY 3 , H Alestad J 4 Show all authors , Santali EY 5 , Arshad S 6 , Ahmed N 7 , Afolabi HA 8

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia
  • 2 Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
  • 3 Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia
  • 4 Immunology and Infectious Microbiology, Glasgow, United Kingdom
  • 5 Pediatric Oncology Department, Maternity and Children Hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
  • 6 Periodontics Unit, School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Malaysia
  • 7 Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology School of Medical Science, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Malaysia
  • 8 Department of General Surgery, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Malaysia
PeerJ, 2022;10:e13664.
PMID: 35935260 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13664

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Cancer is a huge group of diseases that can affect various body parts of humans but also has a psychological, societal, and economic impact. Physical activity can improve the quality of life (QOL) and immunity, while moderate intensity exercise can reduce the probability of this lethal disease. The current study aimed to determine the effect of physical activity on immune markers and QOL in cancer patients as well as to evaluate cancer-related fatigue (CRF) and its association with physical activity.

METHODOLOGY: Before starting the study, the study protocol was registered in PROSPERO (registration number CRD42021273292). An electronic literature search was performed by combining MeSH terminology and keywords used with the Boolean operators "OR" and "AND" to find relevant published studies on PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, and ScienceDirect databases. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical evaluation checklist was used to assess the quality of selected studies, while the GRADE approach was used to see the quality of evidence.

RESULTS: A total of 13,931 studies were retrieved after the search on databases. After the scrutiny of studies by reading the title of articles and the inclusion/exclusion criteria, a total of 54 studies were selected for further screening by reading the full texts. In the final, a total of nine studies were selected for the current systematic review and proceeded for data extraction. The patients who were doing different exercises showed improvements in immunity, QOL, and reduction in CRF. A significant reduction in tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), C reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-8 (IL-8), IL-6, and an increase in natural killer (NK) cells levels was also observed.

CONCLUSIONS: The exercise program is safe and beneficial to improve the quality of life and immunity markers before, during, and after cancer treatment. Physical exercise may also help patients to overcome the adverse effects of the treatment and to reduce the chance of developing new tumours in the future.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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