Department of Molecular and Cellular Sports Medicine, Institute of Cardiology and Sports Medicine, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia.
Support Care Cancer. 2022 Mar;30(3):1945-1955. doi: 10.1007/s00520-021-06608-9. Epub 2021 Oct 8.
Colorectal cancer and its treatment are associated with debilitating side effects. Exercise may improve the physical and psychological wellbeing of cancer patients; however, evidence in colorectal cancer patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy is limited. This pilot study aimed to explore the effects of supervised aerobic exercise on cardiorespiratory fitness and patient-reported health outcomes in colorectal cancer patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy.
Patients who had undergone curative resection for colorectal cancer (stages II-III) and were scheduled to receive adjuvant chemotherapy were enrolled into this non-randomized controlled trial. Patients in the intervention group (IG) took part in a 6-month supervised aerobic exercise program, while the control group (CG) received usual care. Cardiorespiratory fitness (measured by peak oxygen consumption) was assessed at baseline and 6 months. Fatigue, quality of life, and physical activity levels were additionally assessed at 3 months.
In total, 59 patients (33 in IG vs. 26 in CG) were enrolled into this study. Eighteen patients (9 in IG vs. 9 in CG) dropped out of the study prior to the 6-month follow-up. Significant improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness (p = .002) and selected patient-reported health outcomes, such as reduced motivation (p = .015) and mental fatigue (p = .018), were observed in the IG when compared to the CG.
To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the effects of a supervised aerobic exercise program in colorectal cancer patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy. The significant and clinically meaningful improvements in CRF warrant further randomized controlled trials to confirm these findings.
German Clinical Trials Register Identifier: DRKS00005793, 11/03/2014, retrospectively registered.
结直肠癌及其治疗会导致使人虚弱的副作用。运动可能会改善癌症患者的身体和心理健康；然而，在接受辅助化疗的结直肠癌患者中的证据有限。这项初步研究旨在探索监督有氧运动对接受辅助化疗的结直肠癌患者心肺功能和患者报告的健康结果的影响。
本非随机对照试验纳入了接受结直肠癌根治性切除术（II-III 期）并计划接受辅助化疗的患者。干预组（IG）的患者参加了为期 6 个月的监督有氧运动计划，而对照组（CG）接受常规护理。在基线和 6 个月时评估心肺功能（通过峰值耗氧量测量）。在 3 个月时还评估了疲劳、生活质量和身体活动水平。
共有 59 名患者（IG 组 33 名，CG 组 26 名）入组本研究。18 名患者（IG 组 9 名，CG 组 9 名）在 6 个月随访前退出研究。与 CG 组相比，IG 组的心肺功能（p=0.002）和某些患者报告的健康结果（如动机降低[ p=0.015]和精神疲劳[ p=0.018]）显著改善。
据我们所知，这是第一项研究辅助化疗期间监督有氧运动计划对结直肠癌患者的影响。CRF 的显著和有临床意义的改善需要进一步的随机对照试验来证实这些发现。
德国临床试验注册中心标识符：DRKS00005793，2014 年 3 月 11 日，回溯注册。
