Exercise in Patients With Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Summary

Lung cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in Germany, with 56,839 new cases and 45,072 deaths annually. Approximately 70% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are diagnosed at an advanced stage and suffer from comorbidities and symptoms such as fatigue, tiredness, and loss of strength. The standard first-line treatment for metastatic NSCLC includes platinum-based chemoimmunotherapy followed by immunotherapy maintenance. Exercise can have positive effects on symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue, quality of life, and physical fitness. However, there is a lack of current scientific evidence for the effectiveness of exercise in advanced lung cancer patients. No current trial investigated exercise in advanced NSCLC receiving immunotherapy so far.

The BREATH-study is a prospective 3-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT). In total, the investigators plan to recruit 104 patients. A 2:1:1 randomization will be performed with three study groups: a control group and two exercise therapy groups (strength+endurance exercise/only endurance exercise). One group receives individual endurance training and the other group a combination of individual endurance and strength training. Both treatment groups will be treated twice a week for 12 weeks. The control group will initially receive standard treatment without exercise for 12 weeks and will then be randomized into one of the other two study groups with exercise twice a week for 12 weeks. This approach allows for a sufficiently large sample for comparisons between exercise therapy and the control group, as well as between the two exercise therapy approaches.

The primary aim is to investigate the impact of exercise on V02peak. Secondarily endpoints aim to investigate changes in physical function, patient related outcomes and cardiac function before and after exercise.

Conditions

• Advanced Lung Carcinoma
• First Line Treatment
• Second Line Treatment
• NSCLC Stage IV
• NSCLC Stage IIIB
• Palliative Treatment
• NSCLC Stage IIIC

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Exercise intervention

Exercise

Sponsors & Collaborators

• German Cancer Aid

  collaborator OTHER

• University Hospital, Essen

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Mitra Tewes, PD. Dr. · Department of Palliative Medicine, University Hospital Essen

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Model

CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-05-01

Primary Completion

2026-04-30

Completion

2026-08-31

Countries

• Germany

Study Locations