A team of UNC Lineberger researchers, led by principal investigator William Wood, MD, has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI) to study the effect of exercise in cancer survivors before allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
The funding for the study, titled “Exercise in Cancer Survivors Before Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation” will total $390,780, and will support the team’s long-term goal to reduce mortality and disability following allogeneic stem cell transplantation, or alloHCT. The researchers plan to pilot previously untested pre-alloHCT exercise interventions, including interval exercise training (IET; brief high intensity periods of exercise at 75-95% of maximum heart rate) and viewable accelerometry (VA), and to determine the effects of these interventions on pre- and post-alloHCT fitness biomarkers. The study is expected to open new research horizons into understanding the mechanism by which fitness prior to alloHCT impacts prognosis and influences the probability of successful long term survivorship.