Preliminary Efficacy of Different Exercise Training During Immunotherapy in Patients With Lung Cancer: The ENHANCE Trial

Preliminary Efficacy of Different Exercise Training During Immunotherapy in Patients With Lung Cancer: The ENHANCE Trial

The purpose of this study is to examine the feasibility and effects of 12-week exercise training at different intensities among individuals with advanced lung cancer receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors.

The names of the study interventions involved in this study are:

• High-intensity interval training (HIIT)
• Moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT)
• Usual care (UC)

This single-center, three-armed, pilot randomized controlled research study will assess feasibility and compare immune activities, cardiorespiratory fitness, physical function, and immunotherapy-related adverse events, and patient-reported outcomes between three groups - high-intensity exercise, moderate-intensity exercise, and usual care.

Participants in this study will be randomly assigned to one of three groups:

• High-intensity interval training (HIIT)
• Moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT)
• Usual care (UC) The HIIT and the MICT groups will receive virtually supervised home-based exercise training three sessions per week for 12 weeks. The UC group will be asked not to change their baseline exercise behavior and will be offered to receive one of the exercise programs at the end of the initial 12 weeks.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age ≥18 years.
• Histologically diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
• Having been receiving immunotherapy for at least one month with a plan to continue for at least 12 weeks prospectively at the time of recruitment.
• Medical clearance to perform exercise intervention and testing by their treating oncologist.
• No uncontrolled medical conditions that could be exacerbated with exercise (e.g., uncontrolled hypertension or diabetes).
• Ability to communicate and complete written forms in English.
• Participate in less than or equal to 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise per week over the past month.
• Ability to understand and the willingness to sign informed consent prior to any study-related procedures.
• Willing to travel to DFCI for necessary data collection.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Participate in more than 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise per week over the past month. This study targets insufficiently active persons to assess the effect of the described exercise intervention, where additional exercise done regularly will contaminate the intervention outcomes.
• Unstable comorbidities that prevent participation in moderate-to-vigorous intensity exercise. Patients with unstable comorbidities may develop unexpected adverse events from exercise. For the purpose of patients' safety, as well as because part of this study involves remote, home-based exercise where close supervision is not possible, patients with unstable medical conditions are excluded.
• Subjects who in the opinion of the investigator may not be able to comply with the safety monitoring requirements of the study.
• Development of second malignancy (except for basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin) that requires concurrent treatment, which would interfere with this study.