UNC Studies Focus on the Benefits of Exercise During Cancer Treatment
Researchers at UNC are toning up on the impact of exercise on leukemia/lymphoma patients. Claudio Battaglini, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science, and colleagues recently published findings from phase one of their feasibility study, titled EQUAL (Exercise and Quality of Life in Leukemia/Lymphoma Patients). This study found that exercise is not only feasible in this patient population but it also appears to have a positive impact on selected physical fitness and psychological parameters.
Phase two of the EQUAL Project is currently being developed and will continue to look at the impact of exercise on physiological and patient-rated outcomes (PROs). EQUAL II will also examine if changes in physical functioning and PROs during treatment correlate with cancer recurrence and survival time in patients participating in exercise compared with those receiving usual care.
“We believe that leukemia patients may benefit in multiple levels from an exercise program during and after completion of treatment," explains Dr. Battaglini. "However, efficacy, along with the appropriate exercise training regime (mode, intensity, and frequency) in patients with acute leukemia as well as patients with other types of hematological cancers is yet to be established and requires further research."
For more information, email Dr. Battaglini or call him at 919-843-6045. Photo credit: stock.xchng.com.
Clinical Trial Takes a Closer Look at Related Donors
UNC Lineberger is one of the sites offering a new, multicenter trial sponsored by the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR®) and focused on the physical and psychological impact of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) donation on the related donors.
The study's primary goal is to evaluate the medical toxicities of stem cell donation during the first year after collection in related bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell donors. The incidence of serious and severe adverse events in related HSC donors between the ages of 18 and 60 years will be compared with a group of unrelated HSC donors in these same age groups. The medical toxicities observed in those donors younger than 18 years and older than 60 years will also be described.
"As we perform related donor transplants, it will be an advantage to understand the potential complications, both physical and physiological, these related donors may face," says Kimberly Kasow, DO, director of the UNC Pediatric Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant Program. "The data learned from this study will allow us to better inform and educate these donors of the potential risks and possibly alter the care we provide to improve their outcomes as well."
An ancillary study is planned to measure quality of life outcomes in randomly selected cohorts of related pediatric, related adult, related older adult and unrelated donors.
Photo of hematopoietic precursor cells credit: Wikipedia Commons, taken by Bobjgalindo.
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Stay Up To Date on Malignant Hematologic Clinical Trials at UNC
There are several new malignant hematologic clinical trials now available including BMT-CTN-0701 and OMB110927.
See all malignant hematologic trials available at UNC.