Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
Feasibility and safety of an exercise-based prehabilitation intervention before cancer surgery: a pilot randomised controlled trial
By Hennessy DT, Shee AW, Rawstorn JC and 3 others.
Abstract
Purpose
The study aimed to assess the feasibility and safety of an exercise-based prehabilitation intervention and explore preliminary clinical outcomes in breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer patients awaiting surgery in a large regional healthcare service.
Methods
Patients with breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer scheduled for surgery were recruited at a single study centre and randomised (1:1) to prehabilitation or usual care. The intervention involved supervised aerobic exercise training 2-3 days per week before surgery. Usual care involved standard cancer treatment. Feasibility was assessed through recruitment, attendance, adherence, and attrition rates. Safety was evaluated via adverse event monitoring. Exploratory analyses evaluated group-by-time changes in cardiorespiratory fitness, health-related quality of life, and fatigue from baseline to the pre-surgery and post-surgery assessment timepoints, with 30-day post-operative outcomes (complications and length of stay) also collected.