Exercise Interventions for Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

NCT ID: NCT02999074

Last Updated: 2024-12-11

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

183 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2016-01-22

Study Completion Date

2025-09-30

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

The BENEFIT-Study is a randomized controlled 3-arm intervention trial investigating the currently discussed hypothesis that exercise concomitant to chemotherapy (CTx) may have a beneficial effect on cancer prognosis by boosting the anti-tumoral effect of the cytostatics or by enhancing therapy compliance. This hypothesis is based on pre-clinical and exploratory clinical trials. Breast cancer patients scheduled for neoadjuvant CTx will be randomized to either a resistance training or an aerobic training concomitant to the neoadjuvant CTx, or a waiting list control group that will get no exercise intervention during neoadjuvant CTx (i.e. usual care) but will exercise after breast surgery. The primary study endpoint is the tumor size. Further, the effects of resistance and aerobic exercise on the clinical-pathologic stage (CPS-EG) score, the pathological complete response (pCR), tolerability and compliance to CTx, physical fitness, patient reported outcomes such as fatigue, sleep problems, quality of life, depressive symptoms, anxiety and pain, as well as cognitive function, and selected biomarkers will be investigated.

A confirmation of the study hypothesis would be a strong argument for patients to engage in exercise as early as during neoadjuvant CTx. The trial will also provide evidence-based guidance for patients regarding type and timing of training.

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Breast Cancer

Keywords

Explore important study keywords that can help with search, categorization, and topic discovery.

exercise resistance training aerobic training breast cancer neoadjuvant chemotherapy fatigue quality of life tumor response

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Resistance exercise

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Resistance exercise

Intervention Type OTHER

The training will take place twice weekly over the course of neoadjuvant CTx at the NCT Heidelberg or in regional qualified centers under supervision and guidance of experienced exercise therapists. The progressive resistance exercise comprises 8 machine-based exercises, each performed in 3 sets, 12 repetitions at 60-80% of one repetition maximum (1-RM).

Aerobic exercise

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Aerobic exercise

Intervention Type OTHER

The training will take place twice weekly over the course of neoadjuvant CTx at the NCT Heidelberg or in regional qualified centers under supervision and guidance of experienced exercise therapists. The aerobic exercise will be performed on a cycle ergometer (or alternatively at a treadmill, elliptical, rowing ergometer, or combination) progressing from 60% to 70% VO2max with increasing duration. During weeks 7-18 the goal is to perform an extensive interval training.

Waitlist control

Group Type OTHER

Usual care during neoadjuvant chemotherapy/Exercise after surgery

Intervention Type OTHER

The control group receives no exercise intervention during neoadjuvant CTx, which reflects the usual care condition. To investigate effects of different exercise timing, and to provide those patients also a potential health benefit and reduce drop-out and contamination, the control group will receive 18 weeks resistance or aerobic exercise (according to their personal preferences) after breast cancer surgery.

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Resistance exercise

The training will take place twice weekly over the course of neoadjuvant CTx at the NCT Heidelberg or in regional qualified centers under supervision and guidance of experienced exercise therapists. The progressive resistance exercise comprises 8 machine-based exercises, each performed in 3 sets, 12 repetitions at 60-80% of one repetition maximum (1-RM).

Intervention Type OTHER

Aerobic exercise

The training will take place twice weekly over the course of neoadjuvant CTx at the NCT Heidelberg or in regional qualified centers under supervision and guidance of experienced exercise therapists. The aerobic exercise will be performed on a cycle ergometer (or alternatively at a treadmill, elliptical, rowing ergometer, or combination) progressing from 60% to 70% VO2max with increasing duration. During weeks 7-18 the goal is to perform an extensive interval training.

Intervention Type OTHER

Usual care during neoadjuvant chemotherapy/Exercise after surgery

The control group receives no exercise intervention during neoadjuvant CTx, which reflects the usual care condition. To investigate effects of different exercise timing, and to provide those patients also a potential health benefit and reduce drop-out and contamination, the control group will receive 18 weeks resistance or aerobic exercise (according to their personal preferences) after breast cancer surgery.

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

* Women ≥ 18 years of Age
* Unilateral or bilateral primary carcinoma of the breast, confirmed histologically by core biopsy
* Scheduled for neoadjuvant CTx (but not yet started)
* Confirmed hormone receptor and Her2 status
* Sufficient German language skills
* Willing to train at the exercise facilities twice per week

Exclusion Criteria

* Any physical or mental conditions that would hamper the adherence to the training programs or the completion of the study procedures
* Engaging in systematic intense exercise training (at least 1h twice per week)
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

FEMALE

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.

University Hospital Heidelberg

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

German Cancer Research Center

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.

Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Locations

Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.

National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT)

Heidelberg, , Germany

Site Status

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

Germany

References

Explore related publications, articles, or registry entries linked to this study.

Ernst M, Wagner C, Oeser A, Messer S, Wender A, Cryns N, Brockelmann PJ, Holtkamp U, Baumann FT, Wiskemann J, Monsef I, Scherer RW, Mishra SI, Skoetz N. Resistance training for fatigue in people with cancer. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2024 Nov 28;11(11):CD015518. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD015518.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 39606939 (View on PubMed)

Goldschmidt S, Schmidt ME, Rosenberger F, Wiskemann J, Steindorf K. Patterns and influencing factors of exercise attendance of breast cancer patients during neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Support Care Cancer. 2024 Jan 3;32(1):79. doi: 10.1007/s00520-023-08269-2.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 38170301 (View on PubMed)

Kreutz C, Muller J, Schmidt ME, Steindorf K. Comparison of subjectively and objectively assessed sleep problems in breast cancer patients starting neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Support Care Cancer. 2021 Feb;29(2):1015-1023. doi: 10.1007/s00520-020-05580-0. Epub 2020 Jun 19.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 32556623 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

BENEFIT

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id