NCT02680990

Resilience and Exercise in Advanced Cancer Treatment

Prehabilitation for Patients With Aggressive Gastrointestinal Cancers Undergoing Neoadjuvant Therapy

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 14 (actual)
• Sponsor: Milton S. Hershey Medical Center · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This is a pilot study to evaluate the feasibility of, adherence to, and early efficacy of Band Together, a strength-training and walking program (intervention arm) vs. education on the benefits of exercise (control arm) in patients with aggressive gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies (gastric, gastroesophageal, and pancreatic cancer) undergoing neoadjuvant therapy.

Detailed description

A growing body of evidence suggests host resilience (lack of frailty, skeletal muscle reserve, etc.) may impact early healing, recovery following neoadjuvant therapy and surgery, and long-term cancer-free survival. It is well-recognized that resilience is enhanced in individuals with proper diet, sleep habits, and exercise. However, it is unknown whether such resilience can be enhanced by training programs initiated at the time of cancer diagnosis. Although exercise interventions may contribute to these improvements, it is unknown how willing and able these patients are to comply with an exercise regimen during the neoadjuvant therapy period. The aim of this study, therefore, is to evaluate compliance with and the efficacy of Band Together, an exercise program combining strength-training and aerobic exercise, in patients with aggressive GI malignancies undergoing neoadjuvant therapy.

Conditions

• Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma
• Gastric Adenocarcinoma
• Adenocarcinoma of the Gastroesophageal Junction

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Band Together	Band Together is a strength training program utilizing resistance bands with progressively increasing resistance, ranging from 3 to 35 pounds. Sessions are to be completed 3 times a week and involve 3 sets of 6 exercises: 1. chair stands, 2. chest press, 3. shoulder press, 4. arm curls, 5. pulls, and 6. calf raises. In addition, Band Together participants will be asked to work up to a walking goal of 10,000 additional steps per week.
OTHER	Exercise Education	Education will consist of counseling by the healthcare provider with supplemental handouts from the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Institute on Aging/ National Institutes of Health.

Timeline

• Start date: 2015-12-01
• Primary completion: 2017-07-01
• Completion: 2017-07-01
• First posted: 2016-02-12
• Last updated: 2018-02-28

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States