Stem cells as an essential mediator of the exercise-tumorigenesis link

Aerobic exercise has a profound influence on host physiology and cancer risk, yet the mechanisms of how these are linked remain incompletely understood. Since adult stem cells (ASCs) respond to shifts in organismal (host) physiology and are also likely the cancer cells of origin, ASC function could act as an essential mediator of the link between aerobic exercise and cancer incidence. We therefore hypothesize that exercise-induced alterations in host physiology lead to sculpting of distal tissue microenvironments to augment the regenerative capacity of ASCs whilst simultaneously activating highly conserved cell-intrinsic and cell-extrinsic processes that suppress pro-tumorigenic phenotypes. In this Perspective, we dissect this hypothesis by first examining how exercise regulates host physiology through alterations in the systemic milieu and then focus on how these changes shape distant tissue landscapes in which ASCs reside. We then discuss the effects of exercise on ASC function and speculate on the cell-intrinsic and cell-extrinsic mechanisms that may explain the apparent paradox of exercise-induced enhanced stemness in the context of tumour suppression. A better understanding of how exercise-sensing pathways regulate ASC function to maintain or restore tissue homeostasis will have implications for cancer prevention as well as for other age-related conditions in which ASC degradation is complicit.