Home-based Respiratory Muscle Training for Minimizing Side Effects in Patients Undergoing Treatment for Cancer

Respiratory Muscle Training During Cancer Treatment: Effects on the Autonomic Nervous System and Cardiotoxicity

This clinical trial evaluates whether home-based respiratory muscle training is useful for minimizing side effects in patients undergoing treatment for cancer. Over-activation of the nervous system during breast cancer treatment can result in heart- and lung-related side effects which have the potential to reduce a patient's quality of life. Aerobic exercise can help prevent the development of these side effects. However, engaging in regular aerobic exercise may be difficult for breast cancer patients who are actively undergoing treatment. Respiratory muscle training (RMT) involves a series of breathing and other exercises that are performed to improve the function of the respiratory muscles through resistance and endurance training. Home-based RMT may represent a more feasible approach for reducing side effects in patients undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Head and Neck Cancer; Lung Cancer; Breast Carcinoma
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Best Practice; Other: Survey Administration; Other: Medical Device Usage and Evaluation; Procedure: Respiratory Muscle Training

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:

I. To assess the feasibility of delivering a 12-week RMT program during adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapy used to treat breast cancer, head and neck cancer and lung cancer.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To determine how cardiac autonomic regulation, cardiorespiratory fitness, exercise performance, and quality-of-life (QoL) are affected by RMT during breast cancer treatment.

II. To assess how RMT affects patient reported symptoms linked to sympathetic overactivation such as stress, fatigue, dyspnea, when performed during chemotherapy.

EXPLORATORY OBJECTIVE:

I. To determine if RMT reduces circulating biomarkers of autonomic dysfunction, inflammation, and cardiac injury in breast cancer patients undergoing treatment.

OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 groups.

GROUP I: patients receive lower resistance RMT using a respiratory muscle training device for 12 weeks.

GROUP II: Patients undergo higher resistance RMT using a respiratory muscle training device for 12 weeks on study.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 130
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: ASK RPCI; Phone Number: 1-877-275-7724; Email: askrpci@roswellpark.org

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • Buffalo, New York, United States, 14263
      • Recruiting
      • Roswell Park Cancer Institute
      • Principal Investigator: Ellis Levine, MD
      • Contact: Ellis Levine, MD; Phone Number: 716-845-3152; Email: Ellis.Levine@roswellpark.org

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Documented breast cancer and scheduled to receive adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy
• Age >= 21 years old
• Diagnosed with solid tumor (e.g., head and neck, thoracic, or breast cancer)
• Scheduled to receive at least one dose of chemotherapy or immunotherapy or radiation
• Treated at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

Exclusion Criteria:

• Presence of oral mucosal disease including oral mucositis, or oral candidiasis detected at baseline
• Have uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active respiratory infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, heart failure or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements
• Any condition which in the Investigator's opinion deems the participant an unsuitable candidate to receive study intervention

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Group I (low resistance RMT Group); Patients receive usual care for 12 weeks on study and a Respiratory Muscle training Device with small breathing resistance	Other: Best Practice; Receive usual care; Other Names: standard of care; standard therapy; Other: Survey Administration; Ancillary studies; Other: Medical Device Usage and Evaluation; Wear accelerometer; Procedure: Respiratory Muscle Training; Undergo RMT; Other Names: RMT
Experimental: Group II (Moderate to highter resistance RMT); Patients undergo RMT using a respiratory muscle training device with moderate to higher breathing resistance for 12 weeks on study.	Other: Survey Administration; Ancillary studies; Other: Medical Device Usage and Evaluation; Wear accelerometer; Procedure: Respiratory Muscle Training; Undergo RMT; Other Names: RMT

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Proportion of patients who participate in the study		Up to 12 weeks
Proportion of patients who remain on study		Up to 12 weeks
Proportion of patients who perform >= 3 respiratory muscle training (RMT) sessions/week	Overall compliance rates (compliance at all time points) will be estimated using 90% confidence intervals. Additionally, compliance status will be modeled as a function of time (e.g., week), and pre-specified exogenous factors (e.g., baseline age, performance status, self-reported history of exercise, breast cancer (BC) treatment received, treatment side-effects) using a generalized estimating equation (GEE) logistic regression model (auto-regressive covariance structure). Estimates of compliance rates will be obtained by time-point and tests about the appropriate contrasts of model estimates will be used to determine if there is a time trend.	Up to 12 weeks
Proportion of patients who perform > 70% of their RMT sessions	Adherence rates (completion of >= 70% of sessions) will be estimated using 90% confidence intervals. Additionally, compliance status will be modeled as a function of time (e.g., week), and pre-specified exogenous factors (e.g., baseline age, performance status, self-reported history of exercise, BC treatment received, treatment side-effects) using a GEE logistic regression model (auto-regressive covariance structure). Estimates of compliance rates will be obtained by time-point and tests about the appropriate contrasts of model estimates will be used to determine if there is a time trend.	Up to 12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Functional Capacity	Six minute walking test is a functional test of sub-maximum cardiorespiratory capacity.	At baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks
Change in Lower body strength	The Short Physical Performance Battery - PPB is comprised of 3 tasks: a hierarchial standing balance test (side by side, semi-tandem and tandem), 4-m habitual gait speed, and 5 sit to stand from a chair. Each task is scored (based on time) from 0-4 Points (p) and then summarized into a total score of 0-12 p, where 12 p represents the highest performance.	At baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks
Assess Fatigue	Fatigue will be measured using the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI). Each item is scored 1 (no fatigue) to 10 (as bad as you can imagine) to assess the severity of fatigue and its impact on daily functioning. A global fatigue score is obtained by averaging all the items (1-3: mild, 4-7: moderate, 8-10: severe)	At baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks
Sleep quality	Will be measured by the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index a self reported inventory to measure sleep quality. Questions are answered on 0-3 scale with higher scores indicating greater sleep pathology.	At baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks
Anxiety	The Beck Anxiety Score is a measurement on a scale from 0 to 63 obtained by using the Beck Anxiety Inventory tool to assess symptoms of anxiety. A higher score correlates to increased anxiety whereas a lower score expresses a lower amount of anxiety.	At baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks
Self-reported measures of stress	Stress will be measured by the Perceived Stress Scale. The scale measures the degree to which one perceives situations in one's life as stressful on a Likert Scale of 0 to 4 with 0 indicating never, and 4 indicating very often. Higher scores indicate higher levels of perceived stress	At baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks
Self-reported measures of depression	Will be measured by the Centers for Epidemiology Studies Depression Scale used as a screen to identify clinically significant depression; a cutoff score of greater than 16 has been shown to correlate with clinically significant depression. In addition, a score between 8 and 15 has been used to define subsyndromal depression. The possible range of scores is zero to 60, with the higher scores indicating more symptoms, weighted by frequency of occurrence during the past week.	At baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks
Measures of fitness	Will be measured with a submaximal exercise test. A 6 minute cycling exercise test.	At baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks
Assess Dyspnea	Dyspnea will be measured by the Dyspnea-12 questionnaire which contains 12 items on a scale of 0(none), mild (1) and Severe (3) and evaluates the physical and affective dimensions of dyspnea. Higher scores represent greater severity.	At baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks
Change in Quality of life	Quality of life collected by the EORTC Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC-QLQ-30) - a 30 question questionnaire with lower higher scores indicating a positive situation.	At baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Roswell Park Cancer Institute
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ellis Levine, MD, Roswell Park Cancer Institute

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 16, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): October 16, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 16, 2029

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 23, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 14, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): March 28, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 29, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 26, 2026
• Last Verified: May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Lung Diseases; Respiratory Tract Neoplasms; Thoracic Neoplasms; Skin Diseases; Breast Diseases; Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases; Lung Neoplasms; Breast Neoplasms; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Health Services Administration; Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation; Therapeutics; Quality of Health Care; Mind-Body Therapies; Complementary Therapies; Exercise Movement Techniques; Physical Therapy Modalities; Quality Indicators, Health Care; Guidelines as Topic; Quality Assurance, Health Care; Standard of Care; Breathing Exercises; Practice Guidelines as Topic
• Other Study ID Numbers: I-3364822 (Other Identifier: Roswell Park Cancer Institute); NCI-2023-01256 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program))

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No