Patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) experience fatigue and physical deconditioning, altering their quality of life (QoL). However, the safety and feasibility of high intensity exercise in advanced NSCLC has not yet been explored. To address this, researchers conducted a single-center, prospective two-arm study where patients were allocated to either an intervention arm consisting of kinesiologist supervised high intensity interval training (HIIT) or a control arm of home exercise guided by an informative pamphlet. At 6 weeks, 70% of patients were evaluated and 47% completed the 12-week follow-up, with equal distribution in each group. The study found no significant differences at 12 weeks in the physical assessment nor the overall QoL scores between both groups. Patients in the HIIT group demonstrated a significant improvement at 12 weeks in the Lung Cancer Symptoms domain on 28 points (22.3 vs 19.8) as well as the Physical Wellbeing domain on 28 points (23.6 vs 20.6) compared to the control group, respectively. No significant exercise-related complications were reported. Following the study, 64% of patients who completed the HIIT program continued to exercise virtually with a kinesiologist in contrast to none in the control group.
High intensity interval training safety and efficacy in patients with advanced NSCLC receiving systemic treatment: Results of a prospective trial.
