Implementing Exercise Into Clinical Practice in Breast Cancer Care (NEXT-BRCA)

Evaluation of a Novel Strategy to Implement Exercise Evidence Into Clinical Practice in Breast Cancer Care: The NEXT-BRCA Trial

BACKGROUND:

One in eight women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. With improved screening and treatment techniques, more women are surviving breast cancer. However, women live with physical and emotional side effects secondary to treatment for years after cancer treatments have ended. Exercise can help to manage these side effects, however, less than 30% of this population takes part in regular exercise. The objective of this trial is to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of a novel exercise and education program for women with breast cancer during chemotherapy.

METHODS:

Participants in this study include women with a diagnosis of stage 1 - 3 breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Women will be divided into three groups. The first group will include 8 sessions of exercise and self-management education during their chemotherapy treatment. The second group will receive self-management education only, and the third group will receive usual care. Outcomes will be compared between groups at baseline, post-intervention, and at 6- and 12- month follow up. Outcomes to be assessed include exercise level, functional mobility, muscle strength, quality of life, health status, and use of health care services.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES:

Women with breast cancer are among the least active segment of the Canadian population. It is well known that inactivity can lead to physical and psychological side effects, cancer recurrence, and an increase in comorbid conditions. This proposed project addresses a long-standing need to help women with breast cancer become and stay more active by implementing a novel exercise and education program.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Breast Cancer
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Exercise; Behavioral: Self-Management; Behavioral: Booster Sessions

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 85
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Ontario
    • Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8V 5C2
      • Juravinski Cancer Centre

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• community-dwelling
• English-speaking women
• over 18 years of age
• currently undergoing adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy for Stage 1-3 breast cancer
• cleared by their oncologist to participate in moderate intensity aerobic exercise

Exclusion Criteria:

• self-report any chronic condition, cognitive impairment, or injury that would prevent them from participating independently in moderate intensity exercise

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Institution-Based Exercise and Self-Management (EXSM); Eight session of supervised exercise within the cancer institution plus 8 self-management modules focusing on goal setting and action planning for safe and effective exercise strategies (this is based on our team's successful pilot intervention). Four booster sessions will be provided to this group.	Behavioral: Exercise; Exercise component: Aerobic exercise, using recumbent bikes, delivered within the cancer institution. Participants will take part in up to 30-minutes of moderate intensity (50-70% HRmax or 4-6/10 on Rate of Perceived Exertion scale)6 exercise for eight sessions during chemotherapy. An exercise specialist with experience in cancer rehabilitation will supervise the exercise component.; Other Names: Physical Activity; self-management; Behavioral: Self-Management; Eight SM modules will be delivered to participants. They will be viewed on an iPad prior to or after the exercise component. The goal of these modules is to aid participants in developing physical activity goals and action plans to continue with between sessions, with an overarching goal of helping them reach exercise guidelines for cancer survivors and the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines; Behavioral: Booster Sessions; Four booster sessions will be provided to participants in this group. These will occur at 2, 4, 6, and 8 months post intervention completion. An assessor trained in behavioural counselling will provide booster sessions by phone and will discuss the individuals physical and emotional condition, current exercise level, accomplishment of previously set goals and action plans, and perceived barriers to participation in exercise. The assessor will use facilitation strategies to aid participants in devising strategies to overcome barriers and set realistic goals and action plans.
Experimental: Institution-Based Self-management only (SM); Eight SM sessions for safe and effective exercise strategies will be provided to this group (described above). Four booster sessions will be provided to this group.	Behavioral: Self-Management; Eight SM modules will be delivered to participants. They will be viewed on an iPad prior to or after the exercise component. The goal of these modules is to aid participants in developing physical activity goals and action plans to continue with between sessions, with an overarching goal of helping them reach exercise guidelines for cancer survivors and the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines; Behavioral: Booster Sessions; Four booster sessions will be provided to participants in this group. These will occur at 2, 4, 6, and 8 months post intervention completion. An assessor trained in behavioural counselling will provide booster sessions by phone and will discuss the individuals physical and emotional condition, current exercise level, accomplishment of previously set goals and action plans, and perceived barriers to participation in exercise. The assessor will use facilitation strategies to aid participants in devising strategies to overcome barriers and set realistic goals and action plans.
No Intervention: Usual care; Participants in this group will receive care as normally provided by their treating oncologist. This can be heterogeneous between different physicians and centres, but usually includes oncologists encouraging their patients to 'stay active'

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in baseline physical activity level	To be assessed using the Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (total score 0-no maximum; higher scores indicating higher levels of physical activity) and activity tracker (Fitbit) data (demonstrating steps/day and total time of moderate levels of physical activity; higher scores indicate higher levels of activity).	16-weeks, 6-months, 12-months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in baseline quality of life	Measured using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (measure of quality of life in breast cancer survivors; scale range 0-144; higher scores indicate higher levels of quality of life).	16-weeks, 6-months, 12-months
Change in level of exercise knowledge	Measured using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) based questionnaire (scale range 7-56; higher scores indicate higher levels of exercise knowledge).	16-weeks, 6-months, 12-months
Change in baseline perception of health status	Measured using the EQ-5D-3L a measure of health status (has two systems; a 3 level scale assessing five dimensions of health and a visual analogue scale from 0-10; higher scores indicate higher perceptions of health status)	16-weeks, 6-months, 12-months
Change in baseline aerobic capacity	Measured using the Six-minute walk test (6MWT) (a performance based measure that assesses total distance walked in six minutes, higher scores indicate higher levels of aerobic capacity)	16-weeks, 6-months, 12-months
Change in baseline levels of lower extremity strength	Measured using a manual muscle dynamometer (Movements assessed will be isometric hip and knee flexion/extension and ankle plantar flexion/dorsiflexion; higher scores indicate higher levels of lower extremity strength).	16-weeks, 6-months, 12-months
Change in patient engagement in health services	Measured using the Patient Health Engagement Scale (assesses five domains related to the experiences and preferences of patients for their engagement with their health care treatment; score range from 5-35; higher scores indicate higher levels of patient engagement in health services).	16-weeks, 6-months, 12-months
Change in baseline levels of resting BP	To measure change in cardiovascular outcomes; Measured with sphygmamometer	16-weeks, 6-months, 12-months
Change in baseline resting heart rate	To measure change in cardiovascular outcomes; Measured with pulsed oximeter	16-weeks, 6-months, 12-months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Recruitment rate	Percentage of eligible patients actually enrolled in the study.	At recruitment completion (approximately 1 year).
Retention rate	Percentage of enrolled patients who complete the intervention.	At intervention completion (Approximately 1.3 years).
Drop out rate throughout study	Percentage of participants who drop out from study at any time.	At study completion (2 years)
Representativeness of study sample	Descriptive characteristics of study samples (in regard to characteristics such as age, stage of cancer, fitness level, socio-economic status, etc.)	At recruitment completion (approximately 1 year).
Adherence rate to intervention	Percentage of total intervention sessions attended.	At intervention completion (Approximately 1.3 years)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Smith-Turchyn J, Mukherjee S, Richardson J, Ball E, Bordeleau L, Neil-Sztramko S, Levine O, Thabane L, Sathiyapalan A, Sabiston C. Evaluation of a novel strategy to implement exercise evidence into clinical practice in breast cancer care: protocol for the NEXT-BRCA randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2020 Oct 7;6(1):e000922. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2020-000922. eCollection 2020.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 3, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): February 29, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): February 29, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 5, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 26, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): September 30, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 28, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 26, 2024
• Last Verified: March 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: physical activity; exercise; self-management
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Skin Diseases; Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Breast Diseases; Breast Neoplasms
• Other Study ID Numbers: NEXT-BRCA

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