A Structured Walking Program or Standard Therapy in Cancer Patients Undergoing a Donor Bone Marrow Transplant

A Randomized Trial of the Effect of a Walking Regimen on the Functional Status of Adult Allogeneic Donor Bone Marrow Transplant Patients

RATIONALE: A walking program may improve the ability to carry out daily activities after donor bone marrow transplant.

PURPOSE: This randomized clinical trial is studying a structured walking program to see how well it works compared with standard therapy in cancer patients undergoing a donor bone marrow transplant.

OBJECTIVES:

Primary

• Compare the effects of a structured walking regimen vs normal standard care on functional status at day 100 after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in patients with cancer.

Secondary

• Compare the effects of these regimens on patient survival at day 100 and at 1 year after transplantation.
• Compare patient satisfaction with these regimens.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized study. Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 intervention arms.

• Arm I: Beginning 2-3 days after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation, patients walk on a treadmill or in the hospital hallways twice daily for ≥ 15 minutes. After discharge and continuing for up to 100 days post-transplantation, patients walk once daily for ≥ 30 minutes. Patients record their walking times daily in a journal.
• Arm II: Patients receive no special instructions regarding exercise other than the normal standard of care.

All patients complete questionnaires at discharge and at day 100 post-transplantation measuring daily exercise activities, satisfaction with the recommended walking regimen, and functional status.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 90 patients will be accrued for this study.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Diagnosis of 1 of the following malignancies:

  • Acute lymphocytic leukemia
  • Chronic myelogenous leukemia
  • Acute myeloid leukemia
  • Hodgkin's lymphoma
  • Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
  • Myelodysplastic syndromes
  • Other malignancy

• Undergoing concurrent allogeneic bone marrow transplantation

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Able to walk

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• See Disease Characteristics