REACT - Resistance Exercise After Cancer Treatment

NCT07159815 | Active Not Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: TR033
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 160
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 4

Brief Summary

Resistance exercise has been shown to improve several important health variables after cancer and cancer related treatment, but unfortunately the adherence to resistance exercise is low. Typical reported exercise barriers are inconvenient location (e.g. long distance from home), exercise at an unfavorable time of the day, inadequate access to cancer-specific exercise and insufficient recommendations from healthcare providers. Thus, there is need for more research on resistance exercise with an alternative approach in cancer rehabilitation, that potentially can target a broad range of patients, despite their domicile. In Norway, the foundation "Active against cancer" has established exercise locations targeting cancer patients in several hospitals, and today they also offer digital home-based exercise sessions. Therefore, the overall research objectives are to compare the efficacy of a 12 weeks digital, home-based resistance exercise program for cancer patients after treatment on functional, mental, and metabolic health, compared to the same program conducted in a studio under guidance of an instructor. The primary aim is to compare the effect on exercise adherence between digital home-based exercise program and the on-site guided program in cancer patients after treatment. Secondary aims are to compare the two groups on several functional health outcomes, mental health outcomes and metabolic health markers. In addition to the randomized controlled trial, the project includes two non-randomized cohorts - patients undergoing active cancer treatment, and patients living more than 20 km from an exercise location - who follow the digital home-based program and the same test protocol.

Conditions

Cancer

Keywords

cancer rehabilitation; cancer survivors; resistance training; exercise adherence; home-based exercise; telerehabilitation; digital health; exercise oncology

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Exercise adherence

  Percentage of completed prescribed exercise sessions.

  Baseline to post-test (0-12 weeks)

Secondary Outcomes (49)

• Sustained exercise behaviour (12-month follow-up)

  12 months after inclusion (approximately)

• Fatigue

  Baseline to post-test (0-12 weeks)

• Fatigue (12-month follow-up)

  12 months after inclusion (approximately)

• Health-related Quality of Life: SF-36 questionnaire

  Baseline to post-test (0-12 weeks)

• Health-related Quality of Life: SF-36 questionnaire (12-month follow-up)

  12 months after inclusion (approximately)

Study Arms (4)

Digital home-based resistance exercise

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in the digital group will need an e-mail and access to a pc and/or ipad at home. They will get access to a closed group on a digital platform, for participants in the project only. They will be asked to perform two pre-recorded resistance exercise sessions each week, for 12 weeks. Each session last for 40 minutes, and include 10 minutes of warm-up (dynamic mobility and low impact), 25 minutes of resistance exercises (8-15 repetitions x 2-4 sets), and 5 minutes of cool-down and stretching. A total of 24 exercises will be performed over the period of 12 weeks.

Other: Digital follow-up; Behavioral: Resistance exercise

On-site resistance exercise

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in the on-site group will be asked to participate in resistance exercise on-site with instructor, two times a week for 12 weeks. They will follow the exact same exercise program as the digital group. Participants living around the Gjøvik area will have their exercise sessions at The Inland hospital Gjøvik (with physiotherapist and instructor supervising/mentoring the students), and for participants living around Lillehammer the exercise will be held at a medical clinic (with physiotherapist and instructor supervising/mentoring the students). Participants living around the Hamar area will have their exercise sessions at a fitness center (with physiotherapist and instructor supervising/mentoring the students). A total of 24 exercises will be performed over the period of 12 weeks.

Other: On-site follow-up; Behavioral: Resistance exercise

Reference group - Active treatment

OTHER

Patients undergoing active cancer treatment, allocated to the digital home-based resistance exercise intervention only and not randomized. They follow the same 12-week program (two 40-minute sessions weekly, 24 sessions total) and the same test protocol as the randomized participants. Assigned intervention: Digital home-based resistance exercise.

Other: Digital follow-up; Behavioral: Resistance exercise

Reference group - Distance (>20 km)

OTHER

Patients who have completed cancer treatment and live more than 20 km from an on-site exercise location, allocated to the digital home-based resistance exercise intervention only and not randomized. They follow the same 12-week program and test protocol as the randomized participants. Assigned intervention: Digital home-based resistance exercise.

Other: Digital follow-up; Behavioral: Resistance exercise

Interventions

Digital follow-up OTHER

See the arm/group description.

Also known as: Cancer rehabilitation, digital follow-up

Digital home-based resistance exercise; Reference group - Active treatment; Reference group - Distance (>20 km)

On-site follow-up OTHER

See the arm/group description.

Also known as: On-site cancer rehabilitation, on-site follow-up

On-site resistance exercise

Resistance exercise BEHAVIORAL

See the arm/group description.

Also known as: Cancer rehabilitation

Digital home-based resistance exercise; On-site resistance exercise; Reference group - Active treatment; Reference group - Distance (>20 km)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• ≥ 18 years and able to give informed consent
• Previously diagnosed with any form of cancer and having completed systemic chemotherapy, immunotherapy or targeted therapies or local radiotherapy not more than 5 years earlier
• Living within 20 km of one of the exercise locations (Lillehammer, Gjøvik, or Hamar)
• Life expectancy of more than 12 months
• Access to digital equipment at home (e.g. PC and/or tablet) and an email address, enabling participation on the digital exercise platform
• Able to understand the Norwegian language

You may not qualify if:

• Co-morbidities prohibiting exercise according to the protocol, such as serious cardiac, pulmonary, or other organ diseases
• Conditions caused by the cancer that prohibits exercise, such as recent major surgery, fractures, or pain
• Still undergoing active cancer treatment
• Life expectancy of less than 12 months
• Reduced mental capacity such that the participant is unable to give informed consent and follow the program
• Has performed regular strength training (two or more times per week) within the last three months
• Note on reference groups:

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Sykehuset Innlandet HF: collaborator
• Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences: lead

Study Sites (4)

Innlandet Hospital Trust/ Pusterommet Gjøvik

Gjøvik, Norway

Location

The Hamar Training Centre

Hamar, Norway

Location

Aktivklinikken

Lillehammer, Norway

Location

Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences

Lillehammer, Norway

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Neoplasms

Interventions

Resistance Training

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Exercise Therapy; Rehabilitation; Aftercare; Continuity of Patient Care; Patient Care; Therapeutics; Physical Therapy Modalities; Physical Conditioning, Human; Exercise; Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena

Study Officials

• Stian Ellefsen, Professor

  Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Arne Kolstad, Professor

  Sykehuset Innlandet HF

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Assessment of all the outcomes will be performed in a blinded fashion by assessors/investigators.
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Model Details: The project is an assessor-blinded randomized controlled trial, where included participants will be randomized to either 12 weeks of digital home-based resistance exercise or the same program conducted in a studio under guidance of an instructor.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 15, 2023
• First Posted: September 8, 2025
• Study Start: August 1, 2023
• Primary Completion: June 15, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2028
• Last Updated: June 1, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

NO (4)