PURPOSE This study examines the effect of preoperative exercise training (prehabilitation) on exercise capacity and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) (quality of life (QoL), physical function, fatigue, anxiety, and depression) in patients with cancer.
METHODS We pooled individual patient data from nine randomized controlled trials (n=733 patients) available through the POLARIS database,...
Introduction
Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), muscle strength are prognostic factors in cancer. Although exercise can improve these parameters, many patients remain insufficiently, especially due to the lack of accessible services. Telehealth interventions overcomes these obstacles, although concerns remains about its effectiveness. This meta-analysis primarily aims to determine the impact of...
Purpose
Exercise provides important benefits for cancer survivors, yet participation remains low due to barriers such as time demands, travel distance, and limited access to appropriate services. Supervised live-remote delivery may help address these barriers while retaining professional support. This trial evaluated the effects of a 12-week live-remote supervised exercise intervention on...
BACKGROUND:
Prehabilitation is a needs based personalised intervention before and during cancer treatment to optimise physical, psychological and nutritional status supported by behaviour change psychology. Enhanced readiness and tolerance of treatments may reduce complications, hospital length of stay (LOS), improve recovery and/or quality of life (QoL) and decrease cost of care. Short wait...
Background: Exercise interventions benefit surgical lung cancer patients, but many are resource intensive and follow a one-size-fits-all design. The Precision-Exercise-Prescription (PEP) trial is a clinic-aligned, personalized perioperative exercise program with remote monitoring that previously showed improved physical function in women and reduced fatigue across groups at 2 months...
Background: LION is a multinational randomized controlled trial (RCT) investigating the effects of a live-remote exercise program in individuals who self-report fatigue, emotional distress, low physical functioning, and/or neuropathy after curative cancer treatment. The 12-week program consists of resistance and aerobic training (2x/week) and sessions targeting the participant’s most...
Background Multimodal prehabilitation can optimize physical, nutritional, and psychological health in people with cancer, reduce treatment-related side effects, and support recovery; it may also benefit caregivers, who frequently report stress, anxiety, fatigue, reduced functioning and often feel abandoned by the system. We developed coACTIF (COllectively ACTive and InFormed upon cancer...
INTRODUCTION
Colon cancer is the third most common malignancy worldwide, with more than 1.1 million new cases diagnosed annually. Surgical resection remains the cornerstone of curative treatment, but induces a substantial physiological stress response, often leading to postoperative complications. While multidisciplinary prehabilitation has shown benefits in reducing major complications rate,...
Background
Gastric and esophageal cancers remain major contributors to global cancer mortality, and surgical treatment is frequently associated with substantial morbidity and delayed postoperative recovery. Reduced cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength are strongly linked to postoperative complications and prolonged length of hospital stay (LOS), potentially impairing treatment...
Purpose: We evaluated if diet or exercise habits changed in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a remote behavior intervention vs. control, in men with prostate cancer. We assessed associations of behavioral change constructs with health behaviors.
Methods: Prostate 8-II is a RCT testing a remote diet and exercise intervention among 202 men with prostate cancer, opting for surgery at...
Background: Adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors experience persistent physical and psychosocial effects after treatment. Despite evidence supporting exercise in adult cohorts, research specific to AYAs remains limited. This study examined the effectiveness of a community-based, group exercise program in improving physical and psychosocial outcomes among AYA cancer...
Background: The efficacy of physical activity (PA) in managing fatigue has been well-established for a range of cancers and treatment types. However, whilst patients with melanoma commonly report fatigue as a side-effect of immunotherapy treatment, the relationship with physical activity is not well-understood in this population. This ongoing study aims to examine the relationship between PA...
Background: In our previous study, exercise during neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) showed potential to enhance tumor regression in patients with esophageal cancer, but underlying mechanisms are unclear. As preclinical evidence suggests that exercise decreases tumor growth through mobilization, activation, and tumor infiltration of natural killer (NK) and CD8+ T cells, we explored these...
Background: Despite substantial advances in treatment, children and adolescents with cancer continue to face high morbidity and health issues, including cancer-related fatigue, treatment-related complications, and physical inactivity. Integrating exercise into pediatric oncology care has emerged as a promising approach to mitigate these burdens during cancer treatment. While preliminary data...
Objective
Assessment of patient fitness before CAR-T cell therapy relies on the subjective ECOG performance status (PS), offering limited granularity for clinical decision-making. To establish a more objective reproducible evaluation, we implemented two standardized bedside physical performance tests. In this prospective pilot study, we investigated whether quantitative measures of functional...
Introduction: Pediatric cancer patients are living longer at the expense of adverse health outcomes. Physical activity (PA) is a promising strategy to support physical and mental health, yet optimal approaches for implementing PA remain unclear. This abstract integrates findings from a RCT focusing on a 12-week behavioral PA intervention, and the results of a qualitative study examining...
Introduction:
ECHO is a phase 3 randomised controlled trial designed to determine whether adding exercise therapy into first-line chemotherapy effects progression-free survival (PFS) and physical wellbeing in women newly diagnosed with ovarian, primary peritoneal, or fallopian tube cancer (ANZCTRN12614001311640).
Methods:
Participants were allocated to either standard chemotherapy plus...
Introduction: Children and adolescents undergoing cancer treatment often experience physical deconditioning, emotional distress, and reduced engagement in physical activity. Integrating movement-based interventions into outpatient oncology care may help mitigate these effects while promoting a more humanized healthcare environment. The ATIVAONCO Project was created to promote adapted...
Background
The Network ActiveOncoKids (NAOK) is a working group of the German Society for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology. The NAOK’s core work involves implementing safe and effective exercise interventions and increasing physical activity in children and adolescents with and beyond cancer. The NAOK wheel model was developed as a suitable instrument for implementing exercise interventions...
Introduction. Chemotherapy-related neuropathic pain (i.e., hot/burning or sharp/shooting sensations) substantially interferes with cancer patients’ ability to perform daily activities. Exercise is a promising therapy that may reduce neuropathic pain and its interference with daily activities during chemotherapy.
Methods. We conducted a nationwide phase II randomized controlled trial through...
Background: Exercise oncology research is limited for individuals living with and beyond cancer (ILWBC) in rural/remote and underserved communities, who face barriers to participation and lack of resources post-research to support exercise maintenance. The EXercise for Cancer to Enhance Living Well (EXCEL) study is in phase 2, transitioning from a focus on trial delivery to an...
Rationale: Preclinical and observational evidence suggests that exercise may enhance primary tumor treatment, but evidence from clinical trials is scarce. We therefore conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine the effects of adding exercise to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) on clinical outcomes.
Methods: In the BENEFIT trial, breast cancer patients scheduled for NACT were...
Background:
Exercise benefits people undergoing cancer treatment; yet most do not receive this evidence-based care. Research is required to determine effective care pathways that overcome barriers to routine integration of exercise recommendations into cancer care pathways.
Methods:
An exercise referral process was co-designed with healthcare partners and consumers from a regional...
Background: Impaired sleep quality is a common burden in patients with breast cancer, yet the effects of exercise on sleep quality, particularly in patients with metastatic disease (mBC), remain understudied. Therefore, the effects of supervised exercise on sleep quality in patients with mBC were investigated in the multinational randomized controlled PREFERABLE-EFFECT...
Background:
Immune function critically influences chemotherapy efficacy. Preclinical evidence is that exercise mobilizes NK and CD8+ T cells, enhances immunosurveillance, and improves treatment response. However, its immunological effects during chemotherapy for breast cancer remain poorly defined.
Methods:
This non-randomized pilot study examined a 12-week supervised combined aerobic-...
Background:
Exercise is a critical component of best practice cancer survivorship care, but availability and uptake of services is highly variable. Group exercise may be an effective and affordable service option for many patients but is not routinely accessible. The primary objective was to capture and evaluate the experiences of people living with and beyond cancer (PLWBC), oncology...
Background: Exercise during chemotherapy for breast cancer (BCa) offers significant health benefits and could influence disease progression. Evidence suggests that exercise-induced circulating factors mediate such anticarcinogenic effects, although the implicated cellular processes remain uncharacterized.
Method: Twenty-nine BCa patients (40.0±0.9 yrs, 25.0±0.8 kg/m2) were randomized with...
Purpose
To effectively integrate exercise into cancer rehabilitation for survivors, families, and caregivers, it is essential to understand barriers and facilitators influencing patient-centered communication and shared decision-making about exercise. Both survivor and health-care professional (HCP) perspectives matter and may differ in how they view the role of exercise, the...
PURPOSE: Insulin resistance (IR) and hyperglycemia are common side effects of cancer therapy, and IR that persists despite treatment cessation is likely much more common than previously estimated. It is unclear if habitual physical activity (PA) alters cancer-induced IR in the year after diagnosis. METHODS: Fasting glucose, insulin, and self-reported PA were measured at diagnosis, 6-, and...
Purpose: Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), whether treatment-naïve (TN) or being treated (TRE), increases frailty risk. Underlying this is an abnormal reduction in aerobic fitness and strength. Previous exercise studies have failed to improve aerobic fitness, likely due to their generalised approach. We aimed to evaluate the impact of a 12-week precision exercise intervention in adults with...
Metabolic changes have been consistently observed in survivors of cancer. Despite the strong link between exercise and metabolism, the metabolic effects of exercise in survivors remain largely unknown, especially dynamic responses to acute exercise. This study characterized metabolic changes during and after acute exercise and investigated associations with cancer-related fatigue. METHODS:...
Background: Persistent fatigue is a prevalent, complex and distressing late effect after cancer, but few treatment options exist. We tested the effect of a multidisciplinary intervention on fatigue in lymphoma survivors with persistent fatigue (≥6 months).
Patients and methods: Survivors mean 7 years post-treatment were randomly assigned to usual care (n=75) or a 12-week multidisciplinary...
Although prior work suggests that exercise reduces the risk of high-grade prostate cancer, the underlying biological mechanisms remain unclear. We aimed to uncover potential mechanisms using transcriptomic approaches following a 12-week aerobic exercise intervention utilizing the transgenic adenocarcinoma of the mouse prostate (TRAMP) model.
Methods: Twelve TRAMP mice, 8-10 weeks of age,...
Exercise is a potent therapy modality to improve quality of life and physical function in cancer patients, with emerging evidence suggesting benefits for cancer outcomes. Given that the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy relies on sustained antitumor immune responses, high-intensity exercise may enhance its efficacy through immune modulation.
The randomized controlled HI AIM trial...
Introduction
Metabolic dysfunction is a key driver of Endometrial cancer (EC), and contributes to disproportionately high rates of cardiometabolic disease, cardiovascular mortality, EC recurrence, and a two-fold reduction in overall survival after EC. Exercise imparts physiological adaptations including improved cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), body composition, and glucose handling that...
Background: One way to influence the tumor microenvironment (TME) by exercise through myokines is the cancer-muscle cross talk. The cytokine CXCL9 plays a central role in the regulation of tumor growth and cell proliferation, mediated via the CXC chemokine receptor 3 (CXCR3) signaling pathway. We analyzed whether exercise-conditioned serum has an influence on the CXCL9 concentration in breast...
Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a highly prevalent and clinically relevant side-effect that not only diminishes patients’ quality of life but can also impact their medical treatment and survival. The side effects are burdensome, difficult to treat, and often become chronic. Currently, there are no effective pharmacological treatment options available. A meta-analysis has...
Background: Many studies demonstrate exercise is an effective adjunct therapy for prostate cancer, however, limited research has focused on metastatic prostate cancer. The current study examined the effects of supervised exercise on quality of life (QoL) in men with advanced prostate cancer.
Methods: In this multinational, randomized controlled trial, men with metastatic prostate cancer were...
