Prehabilitation in Oncological Patients Undergoing Major Gastrointestinal Surgery (PROGRESS)

NCT ID: NCT06404489

Last Updated: 2025-08-06

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

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

400 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2024-05-16

Study Completion Date

2025-10-31

Brief Summary

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The importance of postoperative rehabilitation on physical performance and recovery is well-recognized. However, the preoperative period constitutes a unique opportunity to address comorbidities and modifiable risk factors, improve functional capacity and address deficiencies in physiologic reserve, which might otherwise preclude surgery or significantly impede recovery.

Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of a multimodal program of prehabilitation in patients undergoing major oncological gastrointestinal surgery. The hypothesis is that severe post-operative complications within 30 days will be reduced in the treatment group compared to the control group.

Detailed Description

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This is a 2-arm randomized multicentric controlled trial to test the efficacy of a personalized, multidisciplinary, preoperative conditioning program to reduce severe complications and facilitate recovery in patients undergoing major oncological gastrointestinal surgery.

400 patients will be randomized (ratio 1:1) and allocated either to the intervention group (Prehabilitation), or to the control group (which will be treated according to usual standard of care within Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) pathways).

Multimodal prehabilitation is a preoperative intervention which includes exercise training, nutritional therapy and anxiety reducing techniques, aimed at preventing or attenuating surgery-driven functional decline.

The primary objective is to evaluate the effect of a multimodal program of prehabilitation on postoperative severe complications.

Secondary outcomes include time to functional recovery, length of hospital stay, complication severity, proportion of patients returning to preoperative functional walking capacity and self-reported activity status and generic health related quality of life at 30 days after surgery.

Included patients will be randomized and allocated either to the intervention group, which will receive 4 weeks of prehabilitation, or to the control group, which will receive no prehabilitation. All patients will be reassessed the day before surgery, 30 days and 3 months after surgery.

Patients enrolled in treatment group will not receive any additional medication but only a multimodal program to optimize their preoperative functional capacity.

Within 30 days prior to scheduled surgery, participants of both groups will undergo a specialized multidisciplinary assessment with a physician, a certified physiotherapist, registered dietitian and psychology trained personnel. All tests will be performed following international guidelines and standardized verbal instructions. A tailored intervention will be prescribed if specific physical, nutritional or psychological impairments will be identified during the assessment phase. Based on the data obtained during the multimodal assessment, different domains and levels of care will be prescribed, focusing on exercise training, and/or nutrition optimization, and/or distress-coping techniques. Different combinations of three domains will be utilized to maximize their synergistic anabolic effect.

Statistical analysis will be performed according to study sites, type of surgery (esophageal, gastric, colonic, rectal) and neoadjuvant treatment.

Conditions

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Oncological Patients Major Surgery

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Prehabilitation

Prehabilitation arm group will receive preoperative intervention which includes exercise training, nutritional therapy and anxiety reducing techniques, aimed at preventing or attenuating surgery-driven functional decline.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Multimodal prehabilitation Program

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

A tailored intervention will be prescribed if specific physical, nutritional or psychological impairments will be identified during the assessment phase. Based on the data obtained during the multimodal assessment, different domains and levels of care will be prescribed, focusing on exercise training, and/or nutrition optimization, and/or distress-coping techniques. Different combinations of three domains will be utilized to maximize their synergistic anabolic effect.

The duration of program will be set at 4 weeks. All activities will be performed in dedicated suites at each site, under supervision of qualified health professionals.

Control group

Standard care treatment. Application of ERAS pathways (Enhanced Recovery After Surgery)

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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Multimodal prehabilitation Program

A tailored intervention will be prescribed if specific physical, nutritional or psychological impairments will be identified during the assessment phase. Based on the data obtained during the multimodal assessment, different domains and levels of care will be prescribed, focusing on exercise training, and/or nutrition optimization, and/or distress-coping techniques. Different combinations of three domains will be utilized to maximize their synergistic anabolic effect.

The duration of program will be set at 4 weeks. All activities will be performed in dedicated suites at each site, under supervision of qualified health professionals.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* All adult patients (age \> 18 years) scheduled for elective gastrointestinal surgery for cancer.
* Signed informed consent

Exclusion Criteria

Co-morbid medical, physical, and mental conditions interfering with the ability to complete study procedures, such as:

* acute or unstable cardio-respiratory conditions (e.g., unstable angina or symptomatic severe aortic stenosis)
* severe/end-stage organ diseases (e.g., cardiac failure NYHA functional classes III-IV, COPD FEV1 \<50% pred, end-stage kidney or liver disease);
* American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status classes 4-5.
* disabling orthopedic and neuromuscular disease.
* psychosis, dementia;
* symptomatic anemia.
* Pregnancy
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Giovanni Landoni

Associate Professor

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

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Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria

Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy

Site Status NOT_YET_RECRUITING

IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute

Milan, , Italy

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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Italy

Central Contacts

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Luigi Beretta, Prof

Role: CONTACT

+39022643 ext. 6151

Turi Stefano, MD

Role: CONTACT

+39022643 ext. 6151

Facility Contacts

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Gabriele Finco, MD

Role: primary

Giovanni Landoni, Prof

Role: primary

References

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Other Identifiers

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PROGRESS - CET 191-2023

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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