Science agrees that regular exercise is good for you. It can lower the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke and improve your mental health.

But even a little exercise may help. An Australian study published in August found that just a single intense workout can increase chemicals that suppress cancer cell growth in breast cancer survivors.

How even one exercise session decreases cancer risk

The study tracked 32 breast-cancer survivors, measuring the blood levels of key proteins immediately after exercise and again 30 minutes later.

It found that “anti-cancer” proteins significantly increased after exercise, and in some cases stayed at high levels for at least half an hour afterwards. This was the case even after just “a single bout of resistance or high-intensity interval training.”

Meanwhile, cancer cell growth, which was also measured, was reduced after exercise, especially for the patients doing high-intensity interval training.

The results indicate that exercise — especially short bursts of intensive cardiovascular activity — could help keep breast cancer from returning, even after only a single session.

This isn’t the first study connecting exercise with fighting cancer. A large data review study in 2024 found that vigorous exercise could lower mortality in some early-stage cancers.

Lowering your cancer risk: Exercise and beyond

This study gives us yet another reason to exercise: It can not only help reduce the risk of developing cancer, but also improve the fight against it postdiagnosis.

But even as its results encourage exercise as a form of cancer prevention, there are other ways to reduce your risk beyond engaging in a weekly sweat sesh (or three) — here are a few examples:

Of course, even if you do everything right, life is still risky. And if you do face cancer one day, the treatment costs can be expensive — so much so that, in fact, some hospitals even recommend crowdsourcing medical funding.

Review your health insurance policy each year to make sure you’re getting the most coverage for your premium. If you ever have to battle the Big C, some health insurance policies are better for cancer patients than others — the same applies to Medicare plans.