Online Exercise Program During Perioperative Treatment in Adults With Gastric Cancer

Online Exercise Program During Perioperative Treatment in Adults With Gastric Cancer (On4Cancer): Randomized Controlled Trial

Perioperative chemotherapy with fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and docetaxel (FLOT4) is the standard perioperative treatment for resectable and advanced gastric adenocarcinoma. Although the FLOT4 regimen have shown increases in the overall survival, response rate, and progression-free survival, it is also associated with substantial toxicities. Prehabilitation is an effective strategy to improve physical fitness in cancer patients and reverse functional limitations and inadequate levels of physical activity that are associated with worse postoperative outcomes and treatment response. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of an online, supervised exercise-based prehabilitation program on the cardiorespiratory fitness level, functional fitness and quality of life among adults with gastric cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age ≥ 18 years.
• Willingness to participate in the study.
• Referral for surgical treatment for gastric cancer.
• Diagnosis of gastric cancer for curative intent - stage II/III
• Referall to the perioperative FLOT4 chemotherapy regimen
• ECOG PS 0-1.
• Receptiveness and availability to use the proposed technology for exercise sessions

Exclusion Criteria:

• Inability to provide informed consent
• Inability to engage in physical training or perform the baseline walking test
• Presence of distant metastatic disease
• History of previous or concurrent malignancy
• Diagnosis of heart failure, ischemic heart disease, or sinus node valvular disease
• Pregnancy.