Maintaining Fitness During Neo-adjuvant Chemotherapy for Oesophago-gastric Cancer: a Feasibility Study (ChemoFit)

Maintaining Fitness During Neo-adjuvant Chemotherapy for Oesophago-gastric Cancer: a Feasibility Study

Maintaining Fitness During Neo-adjuvant Chemotherapy for Oesophago-gastric Cancer: a Feasibility Study to Design and Investigate the Utility of a Simple, Home-Based, Exercise Intervention During Chemotherapy. (ChemoFit)

Feasibility study to investigate the utility of a simple, home-based, exercise intervention during and after neo-adjuvant chemotherapy but prior to surgery for esophageal and gastric adenocarcinoma.

The principle aim of this study is to test the feasibility of utilising a home-based 'prehabilitation' exercise regimen in oesophago-gastric patients during preoperative chemotherapy and the period leading up to surgical resection. The investigators also hope to explore secondary outcomes of such a regimen, such as maintenance of fitness, the incidence of sarcopenia, muscle function and the outcomes of therapy. The investigators will explore the added value of blood-borne frailty biomarkers to objectively measure changes in physiology during neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). This will be tested using CPET, CT measured sarcopenia, grip strength and a small panel of biomarkers as secondary outcome and exploratory measures. Thus the main question is: 'Will patients participate in a home-based exercise programme during and after NAC for oesophago-gastric cancer?'

Exercise intervention consisting of walking and increasing daily step count. This is monitored by wearing a pedometer device. Other part of intervention are 5 simple strengthening exercises.

Exercise intervention consists of walking monitored by wearing a pedometer device. After a baseline measurement of participant's walking activity is done, increase in step count from baseline step count is prescribed. This increase in step count is achieved by walking or jogging at moderate intensity for a target of 30 minutes per day, each day. Participants are also encouraged to perform other physical if they wish and are able to. Patients are regularly contacted by a member of the research team on a weekly basis and given an option to maintain or to increase their step count further. The same approach is used after each week of the intervention. Strengthening exercises will form a further part of the exercise intervention. They are performed every day, 7 days a week. Patients are supplied with resistance bands with handles. They are educated on how to perform two repetitions of 5 simple exercises, each for 1 minute duration.

Defined as the proportion of all patients that enter the study that remain participants at the end of the defined study period (at surgery).

With the intervention, defined as the percentage of intervention days when the patient was wearing his/her pedometer, was contactable every week and was recording his/her daily step count.

Inclusion Criteria: Operable adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus, oesophago-gastric junction and stomach (locally advanced adenocarcinoma with planned preoperative chemotherapy, T3+, T1/2 N+) Planned preoperative chemotherapy with ECX, ECX variant or FLOT chemotherapy Age >18 Ability to complete CPET Ability to consent to study and carry out the planned intervention. Exclusion Criteria: Standard contraindications to CPET testing as defined by ATS Guidance Orthopaedic limitations to CPET and / or daily exercise, for example, amputation, severe knee or hip disease. Inoperable cancer at initial screening MDT Planned non-surgical treatment with either radiotherapy or combined chemoradiotherapy

Cooper M, Chmelo J, Sinclair RCF, Charman S, Hallsworth K, Welford J, Phillips AW, Greystoke A, Avery L. Exploring factors influencing uptake and adherence to a home-based prehabilitation physical activity and exercise intervention for patients undergoing chemotherapy before major surgery (ChemoFit): a qualitative study. BMJ Open. 2022 Sep 22;12(9):e062526. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062526.

Chmelo J, Phillips AW, Greystoke A, Charman SJ, Avery L, Hallsworth K, Welford J, Cooper M, Sinclair RCF. A feasibility trial of prehabilitation before oesophagogastric cancer surgery using a multi-component home-based exercise programme: the ChemoFit study. Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2022 Aug 9;8(1):173. doi: 10.1186/s40814-022-01137-6.

Chmelo J, Phillips AW, Greystoke A, Charman SJ, Avery L, Hallsworth K, Welford J, Sinclair RCF. A feasibility study to investigate the utility of a home-based exercise intervention during and after neo-adjuvant chemotherapy for oesophago-gastric cancer-the ChemoFit study protocol. Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2020 Apr 23;6:50. doi: 10.1186/s40814-020-00597-y. eCollection 2020.