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Exercise Prior to Oesophagectomy

A Pre-operative Personalised Exercise Programme to Improve Physical Fitness and Reduce Post-operative Cardiopulmonary Complications After Oesophagectomy in Patients With Oesophageal Adenocarcinoma: A Feasibility Randomised Controlled Trial

Status
UNKNOWN
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02962219
Acronym
ExPO
Enrollment
32
Registered
2016-11-11
Start date
2016-09-30
Completion date
2018-04-30
Last updated
2016-11-11

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Oesophageal Adenocarcinoma, Postoperative Complications (Cardiopulmonary)

Keywords

oesophagectomy

Brief summary

The purpose of this feasibility study is to determine whether a structured exercise programme prior to oesophagectomy has: acceptable adherence, is safe, and improves physiological measures of physical fitness above standard care.

Detailed description

The number of patients with oesophageal cancer is rising dramatically in the UK. Curative cancer surgery (oesophagectomy) is offered to around 40% of affected patients. However, oesophagectomy is a major operation with a high risk of complications. Around 1 in 3 patients will suffer such a complication after surgery, mostly due to heart or lung problems. Most complications are not due to the surgery itself, but related to the patient's physical fitness before their operation. Studies in other surgeries, but not oesophagectomy, have shown that complications may be reduced by improving a patient's physical fitness before their operation. The ExPO team has developed a pre-operative Personalised Exercise Programme (my-PEP), specifically for patients undergoing oesophagectomy. my-PEP has 4 main components: three are exercise modalities (aerobic exercise, breathing exercises and muscle strengthening); the fourth is where a participant's potential barriers to exercise are assessed and behavioural change techniques (BCTs) are suggested to improve exercise engagement in the trial. In total, 32 patients who are due to undergo oesophagectomy at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital will be recruited and then randomly divided into 2 arms of 16 each. One arm will receive my-PEP in the standard 3-4 months prior to surgery, the other will receive standard care advice to exercise at home. The research objectives are to obtain feasibility data on whether my-PEP is acceptable, adhered to and safe, and whether it improves patient fitness above standard care. Follow up will be 90 days after surgery to obtain a preliminary imprecise estimate of whether my-PEP reduces complications. If the ExPO trial shows promise in these areas, this will inform and justify a future large multi-centre trial to definitively answer whether my-PEP can reduce complications after oesophagectomy. If so, my-PEP could potentially change and improve the pre-operative management of oesophageal cancer patients across the NHS.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALPre-operative Exercise Programme (my-PEP)

A pre-operative personalised exercise programme (my-PEP) consisting of: 1) actions to promote exercise, using behavioural change techniques (BCTs), 2) home inspiratory muscle training (IMT), 3) a home exercise programme (HEP) - which is also current standard care, 4) a 4 week hospital-supervised aerobic and muscle strengthening programme (Hos-PEP) .

BEHAVIORALHome Exercise Programme (HEP)

Written advice on exercise at home

Sponsors

University of East Anglia
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Patients with oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) who are scheduled for neoadjuvant chemotherapy and subsequent oesophagectomy. * Must have histological evidence of OAC * Must be capable of giving informed consent and complying with trial procedures.

Exclusion criteria

* Patients with oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma. * Patients with concomitant illness or disability that makes them unsuitable for an exercise programme, as determined by a clinician (e.g. severe musculoskeletal or neurological disease, unstable angina, severe aortic stenosis, uncontrolled dysrhythmias and uncompensated heart failure). * WHO performance status 3 (capable of only limited self-care, confined to a bed or chair more that 50% of waking hours) or greater. * Grade 5 (too breathless to leave the house, or breathless when undressing) on MRC dyspnoea scale.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Recruitment rate0 monthsThe number of participants recruited from all eligible patients
Drop-out rate12 monthsNumber of patients that drop-out from trial
Decline rate0 monthsNumber of patients that decline to participate in the trial
Change in physical activity levels0 and 4 monthsMeasured with International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)
Change in attitudes to exercise0 and 4 monthsMeasured with Determinates of Physical Activity Questionnaire (DPAQ)
Trial Adherence12 monthsPhysical activity diary used to assess adherence
Adverse Events12 monthsThe number of adverse events during the trial assessed using CTCAE
Change in physiological fitness0 and 4 monthsAssessed with maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test on a bicycle ergometer
Change in respiratory muscle strength0 and 4 monthsAssessed with mean inspiratory pressure testing in cmH20
Post-operative cardiopulmonary complications90-days post surgeryCardiopulmonary complication rates as per ECCG definition.
Post-operative non-cardiopulmonary complications90-days post surgeryInpatient, 30-day and 90-day non-cardiopulmonary complication rates as per ECCG definition.
Post-operative length of stay90-days post surgeryDuration of post-operative stay in days
Post-operative mortality90-days post surgeryNumber of post-operative deaths
Change in Quality of Life0, 4, 7 monthsAssessed using QLQ C30 and OG25

Countries

United Kingdom

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026