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 listed here.

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All previous webinar session recordings are available on the EON Network Webinars webpage. 

Winters-Stone KM, Stoyles SA, Dieckmann NF, Eckstrom E, Luoh SW, Horak FB, Roeland EJ, Li F. Can strength training or tai ji quan training reduce frailty in postmenopausal women treated with chemotherapy? A secondary data analysis of the GET FIT trial. J Cancer Surviv. 2024 Apr 20. PMID: 38642204. Read here.

Kerri Winters-Stone, PhD and colleagues at Oregon Health & Science University writes that "In a secondary data analysis of the GET FIT trial, we found evidence that both fall-prevention exercise training approaches tested in the original study could also effectively address frailty in older postmenopausal women treated with chemotherapy. Strength training benefited the most, leading to an 86% increased odds of reducing overall frailty levels and two-fold better odds of reducing at least one frailty component than a seated stretching control group. Tai ji quan showed a non-significant impact on reducing overall frailty, but was twice as likely to reduce at least one criterion compared to controls. The benefits of strength training and tai ji quan were consistently better than stretching at any baseline level of frailty, except for the most frail, who were likely to improve from any study program. Women were more likely to benefit from the study programs had a higher BMI, comorbidity score, and frailty status before starting the study exercise programs compared to other women.

Frailty can be a complex construct to include as an endpoint in intervention trials, but these findings from our secondary analyses are encouraging because we show that the most frail could benefit from even low intensity exercise, like stretching, and that more targeted programs could lead to even greater reductions in accelerated aging associated with chemotherapy for cancer."

Caru M, Zaorsky NG, Sturgeon KM, Potiaumpai M, Gordon B, Doerksen S, Schmitz KH. Exercise oncology clinical trials during treatments: a commentary to address the safety concerns of human subjects regulatory reviewers and committees. Support Care Cancer. 2024 Apr 5;32(4):269. PMID: 38578453. Read here.

Maxime Caru, PhD describes that the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) broadly recommend physical activity for patients living with cancer receiving active treatments. In the last decade, the number of exercise oncology clinical trials has considerably increased.

Nevertheless, regulatory reviewers and committees may not be familiar with the well-documented long-term health benefits and safety of the regular practice of physical activity. Moreover, they may not see how the benefits outweigh the risks in the context where patients diagnosed with cancer are typically seen as vulnerable.

"Our goal was to address the safety concerns of human subjects regulatory reviewers and committees," Dr. Caru said."Therefore, this study aimed to provide a purpose-built overview of exercise oncology clinical trials for members involved in institutional review committees, including the Scientific Review Committee (SRC), the Institutional Review Board (IRB), and the Data Safety Monitoring Committee (DSMC) to facilitate a greater understanding of the safety and benefits of physical activity during cancer treatments."

Dr. Zaorsky shared that this is "a guide for institutional regulatory committees to evaluate exercise oncology clinical trials".

The authors highlighted in their article that "communication is key". Their works aim to decrease the burden of regulatory requirements while improving the success of exercise oncology clinical trials, which are vital for patients diagnosed with cancer.

"It is vital that human subjects regulatory reviewers and committees recognize exercise as medicine in oncology and accept that it is safe for patients diagnosed with cancer to exercise" concluded Dr. Schmitz (Principal investigator funded through the ENICTO Consortium - project THRIVE-65).

Schmitz KH, Chongaway A, Saeed A, Fontana T, Wood K, Gibson S, Trilk J, Adsul P, Baker S. An initiative to implement a triage and referral system to make exercise and rehabilitation referrals standard of care in oncology. Support Care Cancer. 2024 Apr 2;32(4):259. PMID: 38561546. Read here.

Kathryn Schmitz, PhD writes that "The Moving Through Cancer Task Force has a bold goal of making exercise standard of care in the setting of oncology by 2029.  Part of the challenge of this goal is determining the best ways to triage and refer patients receiving chemotherapy to appropriate exercise or rehabilitation programming.  At the Hillman Cancer Center, we have taken up this challenge by inserting a triage tool into the clinical workflow for the second chemotherapy infusion visit, followed by a conversation with a rehabilitation navigator, who works to connect patients to appropriate programming.  In this paper, we were successful in connecting 45% of patients to appropriate exercise or rehabilitation programming.  Since we published the paper, we’ve embedded the triage questions into the electronic medical record and we now connect greater than 50% of all infusion patients to appropriate exercise or rehabilitation programming.  This is a big win, given the published background rate of exercise referrals is 15%.  More implementation science efforts are needed to translate the growing exercise oncology evidence base into clinical practice."

New Organization: International Society of Exercise Oncology

Kathryn Schmitz, PhD invites exercise oncology scientists and practitioners to a pre-American College and Sports Medicine (ACSM) planning meeting for a new organization: the International Society of Exercise Oncology. View the full invitation from Dr. Schmitz and the draft meeting agenda using the buttons below. 

Opportunities at the National Cancer Institute

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) supports fellowships, research career development awards, and training/education research in all areas of cancer research, including cancer prevention, control, behavioral sciences, population sciences, and translational research, at universities and institutions across the country. 

NCI Webinar: New Directions in Implementation Science: Integrating Multiple Interventions

International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) Conference

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

American Society for Nutrition (ASN) Conference

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