Modulating CD8⁺ T cell immunity through exercise: mechanistic insights and implications for precision immunotherapy

CD8⁺ T lymphocytes are pivotal effectors of adaptive immunity, executing cytotoxic mechanisms essential for pathogen clearance, tumor surveillance and tissue protection. Their activity is shaped by antigenic stimulation, cytokine networks and the metabolic and structural architecture of the tissue microenvironment. Physical exercise has emerged as a potent, non-pharmacological modulator of CD8⁺ T cell biology, capable of influencing recruitment, activation, differentiation and functional persistence. Acute exercise mobilizes effector and memory subsets, enhances trafficking to peripheral tissues and transiently alters activation thresholds, while sustained training remodels subset composition, preserves mitochondrial competence and attenuates immunosenescence. These adaptations are orchestrated through integrated neuroendocrine, vascular and metabolic pathways that recalibrate chemokine gradients, nutrient availability and energetic support. However, the magnitude and direction of these effects are highly context-dependent, varying with host physiology, disease state and microenvironmental constraints. This Review integrates mechanistic and translational evidence across physiological and pathological settings-including cancer, infectious, neurological and metabolic diseases-to clarify when and how exercise can be leveraged to reinforce cytotoxic immunity. We highlight key methodological and biological challenges, and propose biomarker-guided, microenvironment-informed and adaptively titrated exercise interventions as a framework for advancing exercise from an adjunctive measure to a modulatory, precision immunotherapy.