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Exercise as Medicine for People With Cancer Sweden

EX-MED Cancer Sweden: A Randomised Controlled Trial of Distance-based Exercise for People Treated for Cancer

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05064670
Acronym
EX-MED
Enrollment
200
Registered
2021-10-01
Start date
2022-01-11
Completion date
2024-10-21
Last updated
2024-11-18

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

Conditions

Breast Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Prostate Cancer

Keywords

Exercise, Cancer, Fitness, Distance-based, Home-based

Brief summary

Regular exercise has been shown to have beneficial health effects in cancer survivors, including improving quality of life and other important health outcomes. However, providing people with cancer with easily accessible, high-quality exercise support and programs is a challenge. Therefore, there is a need to develop easily accessible exercise programs that draw upon the current evidence. Supervised, distance-based exercise programs have the benefit of reaching out to many people while providing the support of an exercise professional. The aim of the EX-MED Cancer Sweden trial is to examine the effectiveness of a supervised, distance-based exercise program, in people previously treated for breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer, on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), as well as other physiological and patient-reported health outcomes. Participants will be randomized to a 3-month supervised, distance-based exercise program or to a usual care control group. Testing timepoints are baseline, 3 months (end of intervention) and 6 months (3 month followup). At these timepoints, patients will be asked to fill in online questionaires, and and undergo physical tests. A selection of the particpants and personal trainers involved in the intervention will also be invited to participate in focus group discussion or interviews about the experiences of being involved in the EX-MED Cancer Sweden program.

Detailed description

The primary aim of the study is to examine the effectiveness of EX-MED Cancer Sweden on health-related quality of life in people diagnosed with breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer. The secondary aims are to examine the effect of the program on other important endpoints such as physical activity level, physical function, muscle strength, exercise capacity, symptoms, and body composition (lean and fat mass). To determine the sustainability of the effects of the supervised program, the study includes a 3-month follow-up time point (6 months post-baseline)

Interventions

BEHAVIORALExercise

A twice weekly, 3-month supervised exercise program of whole body resistance training using body weight and a resistance band, and moderate to high intensity aerobic activities, consisting of a consecutive series of timed exercises performed one after the other (14-18 on the Borg scale). Classes are conducted live in groups through Microsoft Teams. Participants will not receive any contact or exercise support in the 3-month follow-up period following the initial 3-month intervention

Sponsors

Swedish Cancer Society
CollaboratorOTHER
SATS
CollaboratorUNKNOWN
Karolinska Institutet
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

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

Inclusion criteria

* 18 years or older * males or females * people diagnosed with any type of stage I-IIIa breast, prostate or colorectal cancer who have undergone and completed curative treatment (note: participants are eligible if they are currently receiving/scheduled to receive anti-hormonal therapy) at the Karolinska Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Sweden

Exclusion criteria

* currently receiving or scheduled to receive cancer treatment (except anti-hormonal therapy) * any medical conditions that may prevent safe participation in the testing or exercise demands of the study * performing regular exercise throughout the last month defined as undertaking at least 150 mins moderate intensity aerobic exercise and two or more structured resistance exercise sessions per week * unable to read and speak Swedish.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Health-related quality of lifeBaseline, 3 monthsAssessed by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) (global quality of life summary scale). Patients responds to questions about their quality of life on a scale of 1- (not at all) to 4 (alot).

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Symptoms and symptom burden (total symptoms scale)BaselineAssessed by the memorial symptom assessment scale (MSAS) (total symptoms scale). Patients respond to how often the have had the symptoms (1-almost never- 4 almost always), how severe the symptoms have been (1- light - 4- very severe) and how distressing the symptoms were to them (0- not at all- to 4 very)
Cardiorespiratory fitnessBaselineEstimated/predicted maximal oxygen uptake, VO2max assessed by the Ekblom-Bak submaximal cycle test
Physical function of the lower bodyBaselineAssessed by the 5 sit to stand test (seconds)
Upper body muscle strengthBaselineAssessed by a hypothetical 12-RM chest press test
Lower body muscle strengthBaselineAssessed by a hypothetical 12-RM leg press test
Whole body muscle massBaselineAssessed by bio impendence device (InBody770) (kg)
Cancer related fatigueBaselineAssessed by the Piper Fatigue scale (PFS) (total cancer related fatigue scale). Participants respond to questions about their fatigue on a scale of 1 (being positive)-10 (being bad/negative)
Whole body fat percentageBaselineAssessed by bio impendence device (InBody770) (%)
Self reported physical activityBaselineAssessed by the Godin Leisure time physical activity questionnaire (mins). Patients detail how many minutes per week they have performed vigorous, moderate and low intensity physical activity
Self efficacy of exerciseBaselineAssessed by the Self-Efficacy of Exercise (SEE) questionnaire (total score). Patients respond to questions ranging from 0 (not at all sure) to 10 (completely sure)
Quality adjusted life yearsBaselineAssessed by the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire . Patients rate their health from 0 (worst health you can imagine)-100 (best health you can imagine)
Health-related quality of life6 monthsAssessed by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) (global quality of life summary scale). Patients responds to questions about their quality of life on a scale of 1- (not at all) to 4 (alot).
Whole body fat mass6 monthsAssessed by bio impendence device (InBody770) (kg)

Countries

Sweden

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 12, 2026