Exercise and Tumor Blood Flow (EXETUMOR)

The Effects of Acute Exercise on Tumor Blood Flow

This research aims at investigating tumor blood flow response to acute exercise in human cancer patients. It is hypothesized and expected that acute exercise increases tumor blood flow, which could plausibly increase the efficacy of cancer treatment.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Tumor Blood Flow at Rest and During Exercise
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging at rest and during supine bicycle exercise

Detailed Description

Physical activity has been applied as an adjunctive therapy in the secondary prevention of many cancers, but very little is currently known clinically and mechanistically about the effects of physical activity and exercise on tumor itself. Based on recent evidence from pre-clinical studies, it is plausible to expect that changes in tumor blood flow and its heterogeneity, oxygenation, and metabolism due to exercise would increase the delivery of chemotherapy and other cancer drugs into the tumor increasing the efficacy of cancer treatment.

Eight (8) newly diagnosed Hodgkin lymphoma cancer patients will be recruited to investigate whether these pre-clinical findings can be extended to humans to serve as an evidence-based proof-of-concept for the possible inclusion of exercise in the treatment of cancer during chemotherapy. To study the effect of acute physical exercise on tumor blood flow and its heterogeneity, supine bicycle exercise in a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner will be used to exercise Hodgkin lymphoma cancer patients. These experiments are additional measurements to their normal treatments, and no new interventional approaches will be conducted in this study.

The study consists of one fitness test assessment, and tumor blood flow measurements with PET at rest and during supine cycling exercise.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 8
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Ilkka Heinonen, PhD; Phone Number: +35823138145; Email: ilkka.heinonen@utu.fi
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Heikki Minn, MD, PhD; Phone Number: +35823130149; Email: heikki.minn@tyks.fi

Study Locations

• Finland
  • Turku, Finland, 20521
    • Recruiting
    • Turku PET Centre
    • Sub-Investigator: Heikki Minn, MD, PhD
    • Sub-Investigator: Sirkku Jyrkkiö, MD, PhD
    • Sub-Investigator: Ilja Nystrand, MD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• newly diagnosed Hodgkin lymphoma

Exclusion Criteria:

• abnormal fatigue, anemia, or physical dysfunction due to the disease

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental group; The experiment consists of a supine bicycle exercise in a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner. Each subject will perform the experiment as well as serve as their own control (tumor blood flow at rest vs. blood flow during exercise).	Other: Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging at rest and during supine bicycle exercise; Tumor blood flow and its heterogeneity will be measured with PET at rest and during supine bicycle exercise.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Tumor blood flow	Measured with PET and radiowater ([(15)O]H2O) tracer. Tumor perfusion will be determined as mean tumor blood flow.	Tumor blood flow is measured at one time point, at least two (2) days apart from baseline fitness test assessment. Tumor blood flow at rest and during supine cycling exercise will be measured on the same day.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Spatial dispersion (heterogeneity) of tumor blood flow	Measured with PET and radiowater ([(15)O]H2O) tracer. Tumor blood flow heterogeneity will be determined as voxel variation in perfusion divided by the mean perfusion of the voxels.	The heterogeneity of tumor blood flow is measured at one time point, at least two (2) days apart from baseline fitness test assessment. The heterogeneity of tumor blood flow at rest and during supine cycling exercise will be measured on the same day.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Turku University Hospital
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ilkka Heinonen, PhD, University of Turku

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 17, 2020
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): August 1, 2024
• Study Completion (Anticipated): August 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 13, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 13, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): June 17, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 9, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 8, 2021
• Last Verified: February 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Exercise; Clinical trial; Positron emission tomography
• Other Study ID Numbers: T187/2019

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No