The EON monthly newsletter includes upcoming webinars, updates on exercise oncology and oncology nutrition related events, publications, and resources. This information is also available on the EON Network webpage. Past newsletters are archived here. General EON Network resources are available here.

Register Today for the Next EON Webinar!

Tuesday, December 3, 12-1 PM ET

Effects of Exercise in Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer: Results of the PREFERABLE-EFFECT Study

Anne May, PhD

The PREFERABLE-EFFECT study aimed to investigate the effects of a 9-month supervised exercise program on patients with metastatic breast cancer. The RCT was performed in centers in five European countries and in one Australian center, and included 357 patients with metastatic breast cancer. During the presentation, results for the primary outcomes (fatigue and quality of life) will be presented as well as for several secondary outcomes and cost-effectiveness.

Additional speakers for the EON Webinar Series will be announced soon — stay tuned!

Previous webinar session recordings are available on the EON Network Website. 

Highlighted Publication: “Dietary quality and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in colon cancer”  

Stephanie Compton, PhD, RD

Compton SLE, Yang S, Madere J, Weltzien EK, Caan BJ, Meyerhardt JA, Schmitz KH, Brown JC. Dietary quality and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in colon cancer. Cancer 2024 Oct 5. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39369275. Read here.

Stephanie Compton, PhD, RD writes "Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a common and dose-limiting chemotoxicity caused by oxaliplatin. This study investigated the relationship between dietary quality and the development of moderate and/or severe CIPN in colon cancer survivors using data from patients who received oxaliplatin in the Focus on Reducing Dose-limiting Toxicities in Colon Cancer with Resistance Exercise (FORCE) trial. Diet quality was collected using a 127-item food frequency questionnaire and scored using the Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010 (AHEI-2010). CIPN was assessed with the Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE) at each chemotherapy cycle. Higher dietary quality was associated with a significantly decreased risk of moderate-severe CIPN [Hazard Ratio (HR): 0.96, 95% CI: 0.93, 0.99] and severe CIPN [HR: 0.91 (95% CI: 0.85, 0.98)]. Consumption of red and processed meat [HR: 1.78 (95% CI: 1.07, 2.83)] and sugar-sweetened beverages [HR: 1.33 (95% CI: 1.10, 1.59)] was associated with increased risk of moderate-severe CIPN."

Highlighted Publication: “Aerobic exercise and CogniTIVe functioning in women with breAsT cancEr (ACTIVATE): A randomized controlled trial” 

Kristin Campbell, PhD

Jennifer Brunet, PhD

Brunet J, Sharma S, Zadravec K, Taljaard M, LeVasseur N, Srikanthan A, Bland KA, Sabri E, Collins B, Hayden S, Simmons C, Smith AM, Campbell KL. Aerobic exercise and CogniTIVe functioning in women with breAsT cancEr (ACTIVATE): A randomized controlled trial. Cancer 2024 Oct 21. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39428863. Read here.

Kristin Campbell, PhD writes "Many women who receive chemotherapy experience a decreased ability to remember, concentrate, and/or think—commonly referred to as “chemo-brain” or “brain fog”—both short and long term. In a recent clinical trial of women initiating chemotherapy for breast cancer, those who simultaneously started an aerobic exercise program reported greater improvements in cognitive function and quality of life compared with those receiving standard care. The study, called the Aerobic exercise and CogniTIVe functioning in women with breAsT cancEr (ACTIVATE) trial, included 57 Canadian women in Ottawa and Vancouver who were diagnosed with stage I–III breast cancer and were beginning chemotherapy. All women participated in 12–24 weeks of aerobic exercise: 28 started this exercise when initiating chemotherapy and 29 started after chemotherapy completion. Cognitive function assessments were conducted before chemotherapy initiation and after chemotherapy completion (therefore, before the latter group started the exercise program).

Women who participated in the aerobic exercise program during chemotherapy reported better cognitive functioning and felt their mental abilities improved compared with those who received standard care without exercise. Objective neuropsychological tests revealed similar cognitive performance in the two groups after chemotherapy completion, however.

“Our findings demonstrate the potential of exercise to improve the cognitive changes people commonly experience as part of cancer treatment, as well as the importance of making referral to exercise programming a routine part of cancer care. Having access to exercise programming may to help empower women living with and beyond cancer to actively manage both their physical and mental health during and after treatment,” said senior author Kristin Campbell, PhD of the University of British Columbia, who co-lead the study in partnership with lead author Jennifer Brunet, PhD of the University of Ottawa."

Amano K, Dev R, Naito T, Del Fabbro E. International survey on consensus definition on Nutrition Impact Symptoms in patients with cancer. Nutr Cancer 2024 Oct 9:1-11. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39381923. Read here. 

Trujillo EB, Kadakia KC, Thomson C, Zhang FF, Livinski A, Pollard K, Mattox T, Tucker A, Williams V, Walsh D, Clinton S, Grossberg A, Jensen G, Levin R, Mills J, Singh A, Smith M, Stubbins R, Wiley K, Sullivan K, Platek M, Spees CK. Malnutrition risk screening in adult oncology outpatients: An ASPEN systematic review and clinical recommendations. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr 2024 Oct 16. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39412097. Read here.

Yan H, Gonzalo-Encabo P, Wilson RL, Christopher CN, Cannon JD, Kang DW, Gardiner J, Perez M, Norris MK, Gundersen D, Hayman LL, Freedman RA, Rebbeck TR, Shi L, Dieli-Conwright CM. Testing home-based exercise strategies in underserved minority cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy (THRIVE) trial: a study protocol. Front Oncol 2024 Sep 16;14:1427046. PMID: 39351353. Read here.

The NIH-sponsored ORBIT Institute: Developing Behavioral Treatments to Improve Health application portal is NOW OPEN! The deadline to submit your application for the 2025 cohort is Friday, December 6, 2024.

To apply, complete the APPLICATION FORM and submit your application. Please REVIEW THE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.

ORBIT Institute Website: https://ctbs.fsu.edu/orbit-institute-nih-short-course

Eligibility Criteria & Application: https://ctbs.fsu.edu/orbit-institute/apply-orbit-institute

FAQs: https://ctbs.fsu.edu/orbit-institute/orbit-institute-faqs

The TREC Training Workshop is an annual in person 5-day transdisciplinary research (June 23-27, 2025) in energy balance and cancer training course for postdoctoral fellows and early career investigators. Fellows are appointed for a one-year term, beginning with the week-long in-person Training Workshop followed by 12-months of mentored guidance.

 The deadline to submit your notice of intent (NOI) for the 2025 cohort is Friday, December 16, 2024 via via an email to Diana Lowry at dlowry@fredhutch.org.

To fully apply, complete the APPLICATION FORM.

Program Details: https://ysph.yale.edu/trecrep/about/
Eligibility: https://ysph.yale.edu/trecrep/about/faqs/

This Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) is to support applications improving diet and/or physical activity assessment biomarker development for evaluating lifestyle-based cancer prevention and interception approaches across diverse settings.

Multiple principal investigators with the appropriate expertise are encouraged to apply.

This Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) NOT-CA-24-073 promotes studies examining the sustainability of TRE and the potential impact it may have on obesity and cancer across the cancer continuum. 

Multiple principal investigators with the appropriate expertise are encouraged to apply.

Diabetes and Cancer Interface Symposium

Food is Medicine in Oncology Care Symposium 

12th International Symposium on In Vivo Body Composition Studies 

Moving Beyond 2025: Unveiling the Transformative Role of Physical Activity in the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer 

American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2025 Annual Meeting 

Nutrition 2025

Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) 2025 Annual Meeting 

Visit the EON Network webpage for more information. You can also follow the EON network on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, and Threads! Specific questions regarding the EON Network should be directed to eonnetwork@gwu.edu. Feel free to share the EON Network with colleagues who are interested in exercise oncology and/or oncology nutrition!