STEPTOE V1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
STrengthening Exercise Prehabilitation during Treatment of OEsophagogastric cancer (STEPTOE study)
IRAS ID
346676
Contact name
Jennifer Redfern
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 3 months, 0 days
Research summary
People dealing with a new cancer diagnosis and treatment often experience feelings of weakness, exhaustion, fatigue and low wellbeing. To help them to cope, medical doctors and exercise professionals designed a new exercise therapy that was called “prehabilitation” giving patients the chance to exercise in safe, supervised settings to boost fitness and wellbeing ahead of surgery and to improve recovery from surgery. This has been well adopted and developed in Greater Manchester and called “prehab4cancer”. Prehab4cancer has treated over 4000 patients in Greater Manchester.
However, we have noticed that over half of our patients with Oesophageal and Gastric cancers still develop a serious muscle disease called sarcopenia causing muscle wasting, weakness and poor physical function (e.g. slow walking speeds). Sarcopenia increases risk of poor surgery outcomes and slower recovery. Our new research will trial a different form of exercise - called resistance exercise - to prevent sarcopenia from occurring during chemotherapy treatment. We think that it will work by increasing muscular strength, muscle mass and physical fitness which make the body more tolerant and able to cope with cancer treatments.
In a randomised, controlled study, 50 patients will complete resistance exercise 2-times per week throughout chemotherapy and ahead of surgery, and their muscle health and physical function will be compared with 50 patients who complete the validated exercise protocol called WesFit. WesFit is a cardiovascular exercise program on a static bike. Clinical assessments of strength, muscle mass, physical function and cell biology will be used to determine whether the newer form of resistance exercises can prevent sarcopenia by keeping patients stronger and better able to complete daily activities independently. The findings of our research will be used for patient benefit by informing the design of future exercise “prehabilitation” therapies and preparing practical tools and guidelines for other prehab providers to deliver improved patient outcomes.REC name
Wales REC 6
REC reference
26/WA/0012
Date of REC Opinion
28 Jan 2026
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion