Therapeutic potential and mechanisms of rehabilitation interventions in preventing cancer metastasis

Cancer, a significant global public health challenge, has had a persistent increase in both incidence and mortality rates, with metastasis accounting for nearly 90% of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Consequently, the efficient prevention of cancer metastasis has emerged as a vital subject in contemporary medical research and clinical practice at the global level. This narrative review summarizes preclinical and clinical evidence on the role of rehabilitation interventions in preventing cancer metastasis, and highlights the importance of interdisciplinary teamwork in accomplishing this objective. Rehabilitation intervention includes diverse treatment modalities, such as exercise therapy, physical agent modalities, occupational therapy, and psychological intervention. These approaches substantially enhance patients' quality of life while concurrently impeding the proliferation and metastasis of cancer cells by regulating the immune system, diminishing chronic inflammation, affecting the tumor microenvironment (TME), and adjusting hormonal levels in the body. This paper does a thorough investigation of the impact of rehabilitation interventions on diverse cancer patients, elucidating the distinct functions of different rehabilitation measures across cancer types to assess their effectiveness in preventing metastasis. This article examines the probable molecular mechanisms of rehabilitation intervention, elucidating the pathways by which it mitigates the risk of metastasis through the regulation of the immune system and the TME. Future research should prioritize well-designed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with metastatic-related outcomes, integrate biological measures such as immune profiling, cytokine levels, and gene expression, emphasize patient-centered rehabilitation programs tailored to immune/tumor biomarkers and cancer types, and ensure long-term follow-up of over one year to assess sustained efficacy and survivorship outcomes.