All patients living with cancer, including those with metastatic cancer, are encouraged to be physically active. This paper examines the secondary endpoints of an aerobic exercise intervention for men with metastatic prostate cancer.
ExPeCT (Exercise, Prostate Cancer and Circulating Tumour Cells), was a multi-centre randomised control trial with a 6-month aerobic exercise intervention arm or a standard care control arm. Exercise adherence data was collected via heart rate monitors. Quality of life (FACT-P) and physical activity (self-administered questionnaire) assessments were completed at baseline, at 3 months and at 6 months.
A total of 61 patients were included (69.4 ± 7.3 yr, body mass index 29.2 ± 5.8 kg/m2). The median time since diagnosis was 34 months (IQR 7-54). A total of 35 (55%) of participants had > 1 region affected by metastatic disease. No adverse events were reported by participants. There was no effect of exercise on quality of life (Cohen's d = - 0.082). Overall adherence to the supervised sessions was 83% (329 out of 396 possible sessions attended by participants). Overall adherence to the non-supervised home exercise sessions was 72% (months 1-3) and 67% (months 3-6). Modelling results for overall physical activity scores showed no significant main effect for the group (p-value = 0.25) or for time (p-value = 0.24).
In a group of patients with a high burden of metastatic prostate cancer, a 6-month aerobic exercise intervention did not lead to change in quality of life. Further exercise studies examining the role of exercise for people living with metastatic prostate cancer are needed.
The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02453139) on May 25th 2015.
Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer. 2023 Apr 22*** epublish ***
Gráinne Sheill, Lauren Brady, Brian Hayes, Anne-Marie Baird, Emer Guinan, Rishabh Vishwakarma, Caroline Brophy, Tatjana Vlajnic, Orla Casey, Verena Murphy, John Greene, Emma Allott, Juliette Hussey, Fidelma Cahill, Mieke Van Hemelrijck, Nicola Peat, Lorelei Mucci, Moya Cunningham, Liam Grogan, Thomas Lynch, Rustom P Manecksha, John McCaffrey, Dearbhaile O'Donnell, Orla Sheils, John O'Leary, Sarah Rudman, Ray McDermott, Stephen Finn
Discipline of Physiotherapy, School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, St James's Hospital, Dublin 8, Ireland. ., Department of Histopathology and Morbid Anatomy, Trinity Translational Medicine Institute, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland., Department of Histopathology, Cork University Hospital, Cork, Ireland., School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland., School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland., Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland., Cancer Trials Ireland, Dublin, Ireland., Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology, Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, Belfast, UK., Discipline of Physiotherapy, School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, St James's Hospital, Dublin 8, Ireland., School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Translational Oncology and Urology Research (TOUR), King's College London, London, UK., Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK., Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA., Department of Radiation Oncology, St Luke's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland., Department of Oncology, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland., Department of Urology, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland., Department of Oncology, Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Dublin, Ireland., HOPE Directorate, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland., Department of Histopathology, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland., Department of Oncology, Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.