PeRioperative Study of Exercise Training in Patients With Operable Cancer of the Gastroesophageal Junction

Summary

Background:

For patients diagnosed with operable cancer of the gastro-esophageal junction (GEJ), the perioperative course of therapy is associated with severe deconditioning which includes weight loss and poor physical function, which are strong predictor of post-surgical complication and survival . A strong rationale exists to explore how to develop supportive interventions aimed at maintaining/improving muscle function (lean body mass and muscle strength) during the pre-surgical phase.

This study explores the safety, feasibility and efficacy of structured pre- and post-operative exercise training in patient undergoing surgery for cancer of the gastro-esophageal junction.

Subjects: Patients with histologically verified, resectable adenocarcinoma of the GEJ scheduled for treatment af Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Methods: In a case-control design, patients will be allocated to either an exercise training intervention group, or a usual-care observational group, based on geographical location. Forty patients will be included in this case-control study and allocated by geographical region as follows; 20 training intervention-cases living in the greater Copenhagen area, and 20 observational control subjects living outside the greater Copenhagen area.

All patients will undergo a total of 5 assessments during the perioperative trajectory; twice prior to surgery (baseline and pre-surgery test), three post-surgery (2 week post- and 15 weeks post-surgery, and at 1-year follow-up).

Assessments include measures of body composition by DXA scan and bioelectrical impedance analysis: systemic inflammation in fasting blood sample; quality of life by self-report questionnaires; physical function by handgrip strength and sit-to-stand test.

As optional procedures, we will collect biological tissue from tumor, muscle and fat biopsies and a 10 ml blood sample at baseline and pre-surgery test only. Also, we will collect blood samples before, during and after an acute exercise bout exercise in order to explore the acute systemic changes in exercise-regulated biomarkers.

Conditions

• Gastro-esophageal Cancer

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Aerobic and Resistance Exercise Training

Supervised aerobic and resistance exercise program consisting of 2 weekly sessions of approximately 60 minutes. Patients will perform a test of maximum cardio-respiratory (Watt-max test) and muscle strength (1 repetition maximum \[1-RM\] test) capacity. Using the patient's individual capacity score (Watt-max and 1RM), a personalized exercise program will be prescribed. After a light warm-up, patients will perform 20-30 min of aerobic interval training of stationary bicycle. Resistance training comprises 4 exercises for the major muscle groups: chest press, leg press, lateral pull, and knee extension with 3-4 sets of 8 to 15 repetitions. Each session will be supervised by trained instructors to ensure proper technique, and progression in training load.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Jesper Frank Christensen, PhD

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jesper F Christensen, PhD · Rigshospitalet, Denmark

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

80 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2016-04-30

Primary Completion

2017-10-31

Completion

2018-05-31

Countries

• Denmark

Study Locations