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Exercise Intervention During Chemotherapy in Advanced Lung Cancer Patients

Exercise regiMens Before and duRing Advanced Cancer thErapy: A Pilot Study to Investigate Improvements in Physical Fitness With Exercise Training Programme Before and During Chemotherapy in Advanced Lung Cancer Patients.

Status
UNKNOWN
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03334071
Acronym
EMBRACE
Enrollment
100
Registered
2017-11-07
Start date
2014-04-04
Completion date
2019-12-30
Last updated
2019-07-08

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

Conditions

Non Small Cell Lung Cancer, Non Small Cell Lung Cancer Metastatic, Non Small Cell Lung Cancer Stage IIIB

Brief summary

Trial Phase: Pilot Indication: Stage IIIB/IV NSCLC Primary Objective: To assess the feasibility and tolerability of exercise training during palliative chemotherapy. Secondary Objective: 1) To assess fitness levels in patients undergoing palliative chemotherapy, and to explore whether exercise training can prevent a reduction in fitness. 2\) To determine the baseline fitness, as assessed by cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), of a cohort of patients with stage IIIb/IV non small cell lung cancer who are about to initiate treatment with chemotherapy 3) To compare patients enrolled in the EMBRACE randomized controlled trial (RCT) with those who decline. 4)To investigate any relationship between baseline fitness and outcomes including therapy related complications, response, and survival in those patients who decline exercise training or are randomized to observation. 5\) To assess the feasibility of the translation of in-hospital exercise training to home-based training during chemotherapy. 6\) To document the effects of chemotherapy on cellular energetics and mitochondrial function. Rationale: Chemotherapy has a detrimental effect on physical fitness, and this effect can be later reversed by training. The investigators wish to understand the mechanism of this detrimental effect, and investigate whether it can be prevented or attenuated by giving chemotherapy concurrently with exercise training. Trial Design: Randomised controlled study (1:1) comparing chemotherapy alone, with chemotherapy plus exercise training. A subgroup of patients will have muscle biopsies. Patients who decline randomisation will be offered enrolment into an observational arm. Sample size : 100 patients (to include 48 who will be randomised, and 52 in the observational arm).

Detailed description

EMBRACE is a multi-centre pilot study for 100 patients with EGFR negative NSCLC undergoing first line platinum based chemotherapy. It is a prospective randomised (1:1) 2-arm controlled study. A nested mechanism study will be performed in a sub group of patients willing to have muscle biopsies. Patients will be randomised to the exercise intervention or the control arm. All patients will undergo standard chemotherapy with gemcitabine and carboplatin (or equivalent) for 12 weeks. Patients randomised to the intervention arm will undergo concurrent exercise training during their 12 weeks of chemotherapy treatment. Patients randomised to the control arm will undergo chemotherapy only. During the 12 weeks of the study, assessments will be performed on all patients (including CPET tests and HRQL questionnaires). The exercise training sessions and study assessments will not affect timing of delivery of chemotherapy. Patients who decline randomisation will be offered entry into an observational study. The follow-up phase will commence when patients have completed 12 weeks of chemotherapy, or sooner for patients who stop chemotherapy early due to progressive disease or toxicity. During the follow-up phase data will be for survival and to follow any AEs related to study procedures. AEs not related to study procedures will not require follow up. Ongoing chemotherapy after week 12 will be as per investigator and patient choice, and may include further induction cycles, maintenance chemotherapy, or observation. In a subgroup of willing patients muscle biopsies will be performed at baseline, during chemotherapy, and after completion of chemotherapy. TRIAL OUTCOME MEASURES The primary outcome variables for this feasibility and tolerability study will be adherence to the exercise training program, and adverse events. The secondary outcome variables will be response to chemotherapy, fitness levels as measured by Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET), Time to get up and go test (TUG), grip strength, bioimpedance, CT measures of cancer cachexia, and Montreal score, cancer related symptoms, HRQL, and activity levels. The exploratory outcome variables will be overall survival, toxicity, and biomarkers of stress and cellular energetics.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALExercise

High intensity interspersed with short periods of exercise at a moderate intensity (aerobic interval training). We will also include resistance training in each session. The supervised in-hospital exercise training sessions will last \<1 hour, exercise training intensities will be individually tailored to each CPET. Exercise training will involve repeated exercise bouts of 3 minutes at a moderate exercise intensity (80%AT) followed by 2 minutes of exercise at a high intensity (50%Δ) for a predetermined amount of time. The home-based training programme will involve stair climbing (where possible) and brisk walking to achieve heart rates commensurate with those achieved during the in-hospital exercise training sessions.

Sponsors

Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
CollaboratorOTHER_GOV
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Masking description

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing assessor, outcome/toxicity assessor

Intervention model description

Exercise intervention

Eligibility

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

Inclusion criteria

* Male or female patients, aged over 18 years old * Histologically or cytologically confirmed NSCLC (adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, large cell carcinoma, undifferentiated carcinoma or other) * Stage IIIb/IV disease * Patients being treated with first line gemcitabine and platinum based chemotherapy (other equivalent regimens may be considered on discussion with Judith Cave) * Performance status 0-2 (PS 2 have to be deemed fit enough to complete all cycles of chemotherapy).

Exclusion criteria

* Unable to consent * Under 18 years * Unable to perform CPET * Significant cardiac ischaemia of \> 1.5mm symptomatic and \> 2mm asymptomatic observed on the baseline ECG * Weight of \>145kg (weight limit for cycle ergometer) * Any other contraindication to CPET based on ACCP/ATS Guidelines and summarised in the table below.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Number of participants completing exercise sessions as a function of the whole programme.12 weeksAdherence to the exercise training program
Adverse events12 weeksCommon Terminology on Complications (CTC AE v4)

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Grip strength12 weeksPhysical fitness
Montreal score - Prognostic survival score12 weeksNon small cell lung cancer stage, CRP, albumin, lactic acid dehydrogenase (LDH) and absolute neutrophil count/lymphocyte count ratio (N/L).
Health related quality of life questionnaire12 weeksFACT-L quality of life questionnaire
Fitness levels as measured by Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET)12 weeksPhysical fitness - oxygen uptake at anaerobic threshold
Survival1 yearOverall survival
Response to chemotherapy12 weeksCross sectional imaging will be performed within 12 days of the third cycle of chemotherapy, to assess response to treatment. Scans will be reported according to the Response Evaluation Criteria for Solid Tumours (RECIST Version 1 http://www.irrecist.com/recist/recist-in-practice/01.html).
Physical activity12 weeksPatients will wear a Sensewear Pro3 activity monitor (armband) or similar e.g. AX3 3-Axis Logging Accelerometer (wristband) for 72 hours. Number of steps in a 72 hours period will be calculated
Timed up and go test (TUG)12 weeksPhysical fitness

Countries

United Kingdom

Outcome results

None listed

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