Objectives: * To evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of an innovative supervised exercise program for patients with head and neck cancer (SEHNeCa) to ameliorate loss of lean body mass, functional capacity and quality of life during one year, compared to a reference group receiving a physical activity prescription to be performed autonomously. * To identify the optimal timing for applying the supervised exercise program: in a Prehabilitation period, at least 2 weeks before starting the conventional chemoradiotherapy treatment and concomitant with it, or during a Rehabilitation period, starting 12 weeks after the first radiotherapy session, once standard treatment has finished. Design: a multicenter, randomized clinical trial, where patients will be randomized to 3 groups: one control group and 2 experimental with different timing of exercise intervention. Population: 120 patients diagnosed with histological locally advanced stage III-IVa-b with squamous cell carcinomas of the larynx, pharynx, oral cavity, salivary or in neck lymph nodes from an unknown primary tumour treated with curative intent undergoing radiotherapy with or without concomitant chemotherapy. SEHNeCa program: is a 12-week exercise program supervised by specially trained instructors combining moderate to high intensity aerobic and strength exercises (three 1 hour sessions a week). Outcome measurements: main outcome variable: change in body mass index at 6 months (multy-frecuenciy imoediance). Secondary variables at basal, 7, 12, 25, and 52 weeks after the beginning of radiotherapy include quality of life (general SF-36 and cancer specific quality of life -European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C-30-),functional capacity (6 min walking test), patient reported outcomes and treatment maximum adverse events. Analyses: Differences between treatment groups in changes in outcome variables will be analyzed on an intention to treat basis. We will use linear mixed models for longitudinal analysis of repeated measurements of continuous outcomes (SAS PROC MIXED) and generalized logistic mixed models for dichotomous (SAAS PROC GLIMMIX), considering intercept and time courses as random effects and testing the significance of the interaction of time slopes by treatment group.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
120
is a 12-week exercise program supervised by specially trained instructors combining moderate to high intensity aerobic and strength exercises (three 1 hour sessions a week).
they will receive a prescription concerning healthy lifestyles and a personalized exercise plan
Biocruces Bizkaia research health institute
Barakaldo, Bizkaia, Spain
Change in body lean mass
change in body lean mass will be measured at baseline 7, 12, 25, and 52 weeks after the beginning of radiotherapy) by the multi-frequency impedance measurement technique.
Time frame: Measured at baseline 7, 12, 25, and 52 weeks after the beginning of radiotherapy
Change in Quality of life
evaluated with the EORTCQLQ-C-30 questionnaire associated with the head and neck 35 specific module. Cancer specific quality of life is evaluated by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (QLQ-C-30) questionnaire (Aaronson et al., 1993). The QLQ-C-30 questionnaire includes five functional domains (physical, role, cognitive, emotional and social; higher scores represent greater function/quality of life) and three symptom scales (fatigue, pain and nausea; lower scores represent greater quality of life/less symptom severity)
Time frame: Measured at baseline 7, 12, 25, and 52 weeks after the beginning of radiotherapy
Change in Functional capacity
Evaluated by the six minute walking test
Time frame: Measured at baseline 7, 12, 25, and 52 weeks after the beginning of radiotherapy
Change in Strenght
Evaluated by a manual dynamometer for higher body and by the bench press for the lower body
Time frame: Measured at baseline 7, 12, 25, and 52 weeks after the beginning of radiotherapy
Change in Quality of life
Evaluated by the Medical Outcomes Study 36- Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). The HRQL questionnaire is measured blindly with self-administered questionnaires: the Spanish version of the SF-36 and. Questionnaire will be filled out before and after the intervention. SF-36 generates an 8-dimension health profile and two summary scores for the physical and mental components. This questionnaire has been validated in the Spanish population.
Time frame: Measured at baseline 7, 12, 25, and 52 weeks after the beginning of radiotherapy
Change in Functional capacity
Evaluated by the shoulder pain disability index. patients place a mark on a 10cm visual analogue scale for each question. Verbal anchors for the pain dimension are 'no pain at all' and 'worst pain imaginable', and those for the functional activities are 'no difficulty' and 'so difficult it required help'. The scores from both dimensions are averaged to derive a total score. As more score, more pain the patients feels.
Time frame: Measured at baseline 7, 12, 25, and 52 weeks after the beginning of radiotherapy
Change in Functional capacity
Evaluated by Fatigue-related measure with the FACIT-F test Predictor. a 13 items scale that measures the cancer related fatigue. The FACT-G scoring guide identifies those items that must be reversed before being added to obtain subscale totals. Negatively stated items are reversed by subtracting the response from "4". After reversing proper items, all subscale items are summed to a total, which is the subscale score.The higher score the score, the better the QOL.
Time frame: Measured at baseline 7, 12, 25, and 52 weeks after the beginning of radiotherapy
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