Author(s): PEYRACHON, R., RICHARD, C., LIÈVRE, A., ANDRÉ, N., GELEIN, B., CHAORY, K., RÉBILLARD, A., Institution: UNIVERSITY RENNES 2 - ENS RENNES, Country: FRANCE, Abstract-ID: 1732

INTRODUCTION:
Physical Activity (PA) is known to either maintain or enhance the physical and psychological conditions of early-stage cancer patients (Campbell et al. 2019). However, the effectiveness of PA in patients with cancer cachexia, a syndrome characterized by severe physical deconditioning and losses in appetite, weight, lean mass, and fat mass, remains uncertain. Consequently, it is unclear whether the established PA guidelines are suitable for cachectic cancer patients (CCP) or if engaging in PA could potentially worsen symptoms of cachexia. The objective of our study was to evaluate the impact of a PA program on CCP.
METHODS:
19 CCP participated in a supervised PA program combining endurance and resistance training. Throughout a 3-month period, CCP could engage in exercise sessions twice a week, each lasting for 1 hour. The number of exercise sessions was recorded. Physical condition assessments, including body composition, strength, and endurance, were conducted. Psychological condition included quality of life and cancer-related fatigue.
RESULTS:
CCP realized 17.42±3.90/24 sessions over the 3-months program. 19 patients completed physical assessments and 14 responded to questionnaires. PA program led to significant increases in lean mass (p<0.001), endurance (p<0.001) and lower limbs strength (p<0.001) among the CCP. Concerning the patients reported outcomes, PA program led to significant reduction of cancer-related fatigue through general fatigue (p=0.015) and physical fatigue reductions (p=0.042). Also, PA program counteracted cancer cachexia symptoms, loss of appetite (p=0.006), constipation (p=0.035), reduction of activity (p=0.039) and motivation (p=0.006) and improved role functioning (p=0.005) and social functioning (p=0.019).
CONCLUSION:
CCP engage in the PA program and experience benefits on physical and psychological condition. PA program improves lean mass, appetite, endurance, strength, cancer-related fatigue, and quality of life. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating PA into cachexia management. According to our results, a frequency of 1.5 to 2 sessions per week for 3 months seemed sufficient to yield positive outcomes. According to patients reported benefits, PA program could create virtuous circle for restarting activities and regaining motivation beyond the PA program. Two main limitations emerge from our study: the results are based on a small sample of CCP, and the absence of a non-exercise control group makes it difficult to assess the impact of the exercise on the patients health. Further studies are needed to specify the dose-response relationship between program characteristics and the resulting effects. Moreover, larger studies are needed to refine the effects of PA program according to patient characteristics (e.g. type of tumor, treatment).