Physical Activity and Exercise in Cancer Immunotherapy Treatment
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Physical Activity and Exercise in Urological Cancers receiving Immune Check Point Inhibitor Treatment – a qualitative study exploring patient perspectives and experiences.
IRAS ID
333272
Contact name
Nicola Peat
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Kings College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
15438, GSTT Clinical Governance Number
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 30 days
Research summary
People who are diagnosed with a cancer commonly experience symptoms that affect day-to-day life, including muscle weakness, pain, tiredness and fatigue. They can make it hard for people to tolerate their medical treatments.
It is well known that regular physical activity or planned exercise can help with these symptoms and significantly improve physical and mental health during cancer treatment. Recent animal studies suggest that exercise training can also reduce the number of cancer cells. For example, exercise training in mice produces more immune cells in the tumour. These immune cells in the tumour contribute to the destruction and reduction of the size of the tumour and are a vital component of effective immunotherapy (cancer treatment that helps your immune system fight cancer). In humans, exercise training and the effect on the immune response in tumours are less understood and is a new area being explored. However, we are aware that most people diagnosed with a cancer are not physically active, and especially not during the treatment period. The aim of this study is to understand the experiences and perceptions of physical activity and exercise in those with cancer receiving immunotherapy treatment (such as immune check point inhibitors (ICI)). This will help us to create new practices or change practices to help those with cancer to partake in physical activity and exercise when on treatment.
Participants consenting to take part in the study will be individually interviewed through a semi-structured interview.
REC name
East Midlands - Leicester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/EM/0019
Date of REC Opinion
12 Feb 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion