High intensity exercise training in older colorectal cancer patients
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Effectiveness of short term, high intensity, interval exercise training in older colorectal cancer patients in improving preoperative fitness
IRAS ID
144242
Contact name
John Williams
Contact email
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Research summary
People who undergo endurance exercise programs improve their fitness. Fitter people tend to recover better from major surgery compared to those who are less fit. However, traditional endurance exercise programs last many weeks and so are not suitable for people waiting for urgent cancer surgery, in these cases a maximum of 31 days from the decision to treat is available for an intervention to improve fitness.
High intensity interval training exercise (HIT) programs are much shorter, and have been shown to give an equal, or greater, improvement in fitness levels.
We want to see how much we can improve the fitness of a group of 55 - 75 year olds with colorectal cancer in 4 weeks (the usual time available before an urgent operation), using a high intensity interval training exercise program.
Participants will complete 3 (16.5 minutes each) exercise sessions each week for 4 weeks (12 sessions). The exercise will be performed on a stationary exercise bicycle and involves 60 seconds pedaling as hard as possible followed by 90 seconds rest, this is repeated 5 times. Changes in fitness will be assessed by analyzing the gases inhaled and exhaled during exercise and, at a muscle level, by scans and biopsies. Acceptability of the programme to the participants will also be assessed.REC name
East Midlands - Derby Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/EM/1131
Date of REC Opinion
12 Sep 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion