Impact of Aerobic Exercise on the Anticancer Immune Response in Patients Receiving Cancer Treatment

NCT06911970 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 2025-5606
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 44
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to determine to what extent anticancer immune cells mobilized by aerobic exercise exhibit migratory and functional capacity towards cancer cells in patients undergoing treatment for breast or colorectal cancer. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Do anticancer immune cells mobilized by aerobic exercise will display migratory and functional capacity in patients undergoing treatment for curable breast or colorectal cancer? Hypothesis: exercise will promote cell migration and these cells will display anti-cancer functional characteristics, suggesting a possible adjuvant and immunotherapeutic use of exercise.
• Do the magnitude of this anti-cancer immune response to exercise depend on the intensity of exercise? Hypothesis: the achievement of a higher intensity of effort will enable greater mobilization of the cytotoxic lymphocytes of interest, but also the expression of markers predicting a more interesting adjuvant potential to immunotherapy. Researchers will compare the effect of two exercise sessions, one moderate-intensity continuous exercise session (MOD) and one high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) on the migration and anticancer potentials of mobilized immune cells. Individuals aged between 40 and 70 with curable colon or breast cancer will be recruited to carry out a cross-over study with two experimental conditions. After a preliminary assessment visit, they will take part in:
• Two familiarization visits to validate the exercise prescription
• Two experimental visits (HIIE and MOD). During these conditions, blood samples will be taken before, after and 1 hour after the end of exercise to collect immune cells in the blood. At the end of the visits, participants will leave with an accelerometer to wear for three days depending on conditions, and a notebook containing a questionnaire to assess fatigue levels over the same three days.

Conditions

Colorectal Cancer; Breast Cancer; Non Metastatic Cancer

Keywords

cancer; exercise; T cells; NK cells; Migration; treatment; cytotoxic; immunology

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Change in migratory capacity of different peripheral blood mononuclear cells (Natural Killer Cells and T cells)

  Transwell migration assay

  Before the start of the condition (t = 0 minute), at the end of the condition (t ≈ 35 minutes), 1 hour post-condition (t ≈ 95 minutes)

• Change in the concentration and characterization of subpopulations of migrated peripheral blood mononuclear cells

  Flow cytometry

  Before the start of the condition (t = 0 minute), at the end of the condition (t ≈ 35 minutes), 1 hour post-condition (t ≈ 95 minutes)

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Change in the concentration of inflammatory mediators in peripheral blood (chemokines, pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines)

  Before the start of the condition (t = 0 minute), at the end of the condition (t ≈ 35 minutes), 1 hour post-condition (t ≈ 95 minutes)

• Change in catecholamines concentrations

  Before the start of the condition (t = 0 minute), at the end of the condition (t ≈ 35 minutes), 1 hour post-condition (t ≈ 95 minutes)

• Cancer-Related Fatigue

  During 3 days after the conditions.

• Changes in physical activity levels

  During 3 days after the conditions

Study Arms (2)

Condition HIIE

EXPERIMENTAL

Individuals undergoing cancer treatment will complete one session of high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) with a ratio high-intensity/active recovery of 1 min /2 min. During the condition blood samples will be collected.

Other: Exercise

Condition MOD

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Individuals undergoing cancer treatment will complete one moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MOD) session during which blood samples will be collected. MOD will consist of aerobic exercise that match external workload of HIIE.

Other: Exercise

Interventions

Exercise OTHER

Moderate-Intensity Continuous Exercise (MOD): The MOD condition will consist of a 37-minute continuous aerobic exercise session on ergocycle. This includes a warm-up and cool-down period at low intensity, and a 32-minute period at moderate intensity at a power corresponding to 50% of the last stop completed in the modified YMCA test completed in the preliminary visit. High-Intensity Interval Exercise (HIIE): The HIIE condition will consist of a 35-minute high-intensity aerobic exercise session on ergocycle. This includes a warm-up at low intensity, followed by 10 blocks of 1 minute at high intensity (110% of power highest poweroutput reached during the submaximal test) and 2 minutes of active rest (25% of highest power output).

Condition HIIE; Condition MOD

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 40 Years - 70 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Diagnosis of non-metastatic breast or colon cancer
• Age between 40 and 70
• Have started chemotherapy or immunotherapy treatment and have at least three treatments remaining in the cycle
• ECOG stage 0 to 1
• Be able to perform moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (MOD) or EPI type cycling according to the established prescription and without experiencing pain in connection with the bicycle saddle

You may not qualify if:

• Orthopedic, cardiac or metabolic limitation preventing safe aerobic exercise
• Non-controlled health condition
• Use of beta-blockers
• Planned surgery during the study period.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Université de Sherbrooke: lead

Study Sites (2)

Research Center on Aging

Sherbrooke, Quebec, J1H 2J7, Canada

RECRUITING

Research Center on Aging

Sherbrooke, Quebec, J1H 4C4, Canada

NOT YET RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Colorectal Neoplasms; Breast Neoplasms; Neoplasms; Motor Activity

Interventions

Exercise

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Intestinal Neoplasms; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms; Digestive System Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Digestive System Diseases; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Colonic Diseases; Intestinal Diseases; Rectal Diseases; Breast Diseases; Skin Diseases; Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases; Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena

Study Officials

• Eléonor Riesco, PhD

  University of Sherbrooke, Faculty of Physical Activity Sciences, Department of Kinanthropology

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Lee-Hwa Tai, PhD

  University of Sherbrooke, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Immunology and Cellular Biology

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Central Study Contacts

Eléonor Riesco, PhD

CONTACT

819-821-8000; eleonor.riesco@usherbrooke.ca

Laurence Poirier, MSc

CONTACT

819-780-2220; laurence.poirier2@usherbrooke.ca

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Each participant performed 2 experimental conditions (moderate continuous exercise and high-intensity interval exercise).

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 28, 2025
• First Posted: April 4, 2025
• Study Start: April 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 30, 2027
• Last Updated: August 29, 2025

Record last verified: 2024-10

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CA (2)