Background & Objective: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of combined training (aerobic-resistance) on serum levels of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and insulin-like growth factor-binding proteins 3 (IGFBP-3) in men with prostate cancer.
Materials & Methods: 20 eligible men with prostate cancer with an average age of 62.6±7.71 years, height of 172.15±5.02 cm, average weight of 75.6±11.6 kg, and the body mass index 25.54±3.47 were divided randomly into two groups (10 individuals each): the control and experimental groups. The experimental group experienced eight weeks of combined training (Aerobic resistance) with three sessions per week. During this period the control group did not participate in any exercise. At the beginning and the end of the period, 5 mL blood samples were taken to measure serum levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-3. The obtained data were then analyzed using ANCOVA with P-value≤ 0.05.
Results: The results showed that the eight weeks of combined training significantly reduced the level of IGF-I in the experimental group (P=0.001). Also, the combined training significantly increased the level of IGFBP-3 in the experimental group, which was significantly different from the control group (P=0.036).
Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that the combined training can affect some of the factors associated with prostate cancer and may be able to contribute to the improvement of patients' disease (along with the main treatment protocol).