We point at several challenges that current exercise oncology rodent models face, which call their human-relevance into question: the vast majority of pre-clinical studies in exercise oncology treat "physical exercise" as a primitive concept without further analysis or qualification, and their results are based on dosages that no human can endure. The lack of analysis and qualification together with the dosage mismatch conceal the fact that rodents do not run like humans. Consequently, while these pre-clinical studies may yield insights into potential biological mechanisms underlying the systemic effects of physical exercise on cancer, the applicability of this knowledge to preventive interventions in healthy humans and the ability to translate it to practical therapies in the critically ill remain limited. We propose an alternative exercise rodent model that has better chances of meeting these challenges.
Keywords: Exercise oncology; dose-response; human relevance; rodent models; translational research.