Effectiveness of Exercise Therapy for Patients with Prostate Cancer Focusing on High-intensity Interval Training: A Narrative Review

Prostate cancer (PC) is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in men, and the population of survivors continues to increase. Although PC has a slower progression rate and a relatively favorable prognosis compared to other cancers, new strategies are needed to enhance outcomes after diagnosis and treatment. The effectiveness of exercise therapy in the prevention and treatment of PC is well documented. The significance of exercise for patients with PC includes prevention of disease progression, maintenance of physical fitness, and enhancement of muscle strength before surgery, as well as during chemotherapy and radiotherapy, all of which contribute to improving prognosis after treatment. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a well-established training protocol for long-distance runners that has also been applied to cardiovascular and metabolic diseases as a relatively novel and promising approach. HIIT, which involves high-intensity aerobic exercise, is known to enhance cardiorespiratory fitness, cardiac function, and insulin resistance to a greater extent than moderate-intensity training. Recent studies have demonstrated that HIIT effectively improves cancer cell growth inhibition and decreases prostate-specific antigen levels in both localized PC under active surveillance and metastatic castrate-resistant PC. However, the HIIT protocol should be tailored to each patient's condition and physical fitness level upon implementation. If accumulating evidence confirms the ability of HIIT to enhance physical fitness and suppress PC growth, the benefits to patients with PC would be substantial, and expected to be widespread.