Inflammatory response to exercise in a pancreatic-cancer patient: A case report

Background: Pancreatic-adenocarcinoma is relatively uncommon, but has been proven to be an unyielding adversity. Although it is known the importance of exercise in improving quality of life in cancer patients, currently there are no available data identifying the inflammatory-response during exercise in pancreatic-cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Methods: A control-supported case study was performed on a 67 yr old man diagnosed with stage IV pancreaticcancer. Two 24-hour non-stop ultra-endurance walking races (24 hr Walk) completed by the patient prior to cancerdiagnosis (No Chemo, 6 months prior to the diagnosis) and after cancer-diagnosis during chemotherapy (Chemo) were compared. Comparison to control-participants without cancer (n=2, Ctrl 1 and Ctrl 2) was also conducted. Throughout 24 hr Walk blood-samples were collected every 6 hours and analyzed for intereukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-1ra (IL-1ra), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-10 (IL-10), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), monochemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), C-reactive protein (CRP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), pancreatic amylase (AmylP), and albumin. All training performed since the cancer-diagnosis was monitored. Results: No adverse events occurred neither during 24 hr walks nor during the training. The number of walk per week, distance, and speed diminished following the diagnosis of pancreatic-cancer. Changes in IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-α, MCP-1, ALT, AmylP, and albumin did not differ between No Chemo and Chemo. IL-1ra decreased in No Chemo, but increased in Chemo. CRP increased in both No Chemo and Chemo, and in the controls as well. Changes in ALT and AmylP in Ctrl 1 and Ctrl 2 differed to both No Chemo and Chemo. Conclusions: Understanding the inflammatory-response to exercise in cancer-patients may be useful to design and delivery adapted exercise-programs in this growing population. The inflammatory-response, hepatic, and pancreatic functionality during prolonged-exercise were not exacerbated by concurrent chemotherapy in a pancreatic-cancer patient