A pilot study of Moderate Intensity Exercise in Brain/CNS Cancers.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A pilot study of Moderate Intensity Exercise as adjuvant therapy in the management of Brain and Central Nervous System Cancer
IRAS ID
186772
Contact name
Abayomi Salawu
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bath
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 31 days
Research summary
This work will test whether an exercise programme can improve quality of life and treatment outcomes for patients with brain cancer. The exercise programme will begin before patients undergo surgery with an aim to improve fitness. The regimen will continue once patients have recovered from their surgery. It is anticipated that by doing this, the patients will be fit enough to be offered other treatment including chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The research will be undertaken on patients who will be randomly allocated into two groups. One group will be asked to complete an “aerobic” type exercise programme that aims to increase heart rate and feelings of “being out of breath” under supervision. The other group will undertake a control intervention – this will consist of exercise that does not raise heart rate and does not make people breathless (e.g., very light stretching exercise). This control intervention will allow us to prove using statistical methods that the aerobic intervention makes a difference to the fitness of patients with brain cancer. We will assess outcomes relating to physical functioning (e.g., how far the participants can walk within a specified time period) and the thinking process in the brain. These are the two factors that affect prognosis most strongly and we anticipate that if we can improve this then treatment will be more successful. Both groups will continue to have the regular treatment usually offered to patients with this diagnosis. We expect to recruit about 30 patients (15 in each group).
REC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/WM/0374
Date of REC Opinion
5 Nov 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion