Exercise prehabilitation in colorectal cancer

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aims
Colorectal (bowel) cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK with over 40,000 cases diagnosed each year. About two in three people who are diagnosed with colorectal cancer have surgery as part of their treatment. Cancer treatment is good at extending the length of a person’s life, but many people are left more limited in their physical function when compared with similar people who have not had cancer or surgery. One way to try and combat this is with ‘prehabilitation’, which is the improvement of background levels of fitness amongst other things, before surgery. Given this, researchers want to study the effects of exercise on people before surgery for colorectal cancer and to work towards understanding why exercise can affect fitness levels amongst other things.

Who can participate?
Patients aged 18 years or older with colorectal cancer and a plan for curative surgery

What does the study involve?
Participants are randomly allocated to Prehabilitation with High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) only or to Prehabilitation with High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and Resistance Exercise Training (RET) (ReHIIT). The study involves exercising for 8-12 sessions before surgery and three assessment sessions where participants will undergo tests of their physical function, blood and urine samples, an x-ray and ultrasound scan, testing of their nerves and muscles (EMG), a thigh biopsy, some questionnaires, and lung tests. In addition, they will also take saliva samples each week, wear a small device to track their function and record what they eat at four points during the study. The study takes about 10 weeks.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The primary aim of this study is not to directly benefit to participants in its design, but it is likely there may be some advantageous effects for participants. Participants will undergo a supervised exercise training regime, which is likely to increase their levels of physical fitness which may help them in day-to-day activities, and in their return to normal activities after surgery. Participants in the past have expressed feelings of reward for participation in trials and pleasure in the potential to help future patients.

Where is the study run from?
The University of Nottingham Medical School at the Royal Derby Hospital (UK)

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
October 2022 to August 2026

Who is funding the study?
Medical Research Council (MRC) (UK)

Who is the main contact?
Prof. Bethan Phillips, beth.phillips@nottingham.ac.uk

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/find-a-clinical-trial/a-study-looking-exercise-prehabilitation-bowel-cancer-epic

Contact information

Study information

Eligibility

Locations

Countries of recruitment

• United Kingdom
• England

Study participating centres

Results and Publications

Study outputs

Editorial Notes

27/11/2025: Cancer Research UK plain English summary link added to plain English summary of protocol field.
09/10/2024: The scientific/public contact confirmed that the study was ongoing with no updates required.
20/09/2023: A link to the HRA research summary was added.
15/08/2023: Internal review.
04/08/2023: The recruitment start date has been changed from 12/07/2023 to 28/07/2023.
05/07/2023: The recruitment start date has been changed from 03/07/2023 to 12/07/2023.
26/06/2023: The recruitment start date has been changed from 15/05/2023 to 03/07/2023.
25/04/2023: The recruitment start date has been changed from 17/04/2023 to 15/05/2023.
24/04/2023: Ethics approval details added.
03/04/2023: The recruitment start date has been changed from 01/04/2023 to 17/04/2023.
08/03/2023: The recruitment start date has been changed from 01/03/2023 to 01/04/2023.
17/02/2023: Internal review.
16/02/2023: Trial's existence confirmed by the Medical Research Council.