Author/Year (in alphabetical order) | Number of subjects; Gender (female); Mean age, y | Study design | Setting | Cancer site (stage) Cancer treatment status | Physical activity intervention details (Duration, dose, intensity) Control group | Physical activity assessment tools | Survival outcome | Follow-up duration | Summary of results |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cheville et al. [26] | N = 66; IG: 33; CG: 33 Female: 47% Mean Age: 64.6 | RCT | Single center: USA | Lung and colorectal cancer (IV); 51.5% undergoing treatment | IG: Home based incremental walking and strength training (moderate exertion) with bimonthly telephone calls Duration: 8 weeks CG: Usual care | Mean weekly step counts, REST sessions performed per week | Months to death from study enrollment | 12 months | Survival did not differ significantly between the groups (HR: 0.92 for control group; P = 0.75). |
Dhillon et al. [27] | N = 112; IG: 56; CG:55 Female: 45% Median age: 64 | RCT | Multiple centers: Australia | Lung cancer (III-IV); Completed treatment (21.6%) or receiving anti-cancer treatment (78.4%) | IG: Physical activity program (supervised physical activity: 30–45 min and behavioral support session: 15–30 min + unsupervised home physical activity sessions + advice about resistance exercises + general health education materials) Duration: Once a week ×  8 weeks CG: General health education materials only | Actigraph GT1M accelerometer (≥4 days), PA diary | Overall survival | Oct 2014 to July 2016 | OS was not significantly different between groups, P log-rank = 0.75; with median survival of 15.4 months (95% CI: 11.3, 24.1) EX and 13.2 months (95% CI: 11.1, 20.0) CG. |
Oldervoll et al. [28] | N = 231; IG: 121; CG: 110 Female: 62.3% Mean age: 62.1 | RCT | Multiple centers: Norway | Advanced and incurable cancer with heterogeneous cancer types; > 80% undergoing treatment | IG: Physical Exercise Intervention (Warm up, circuit training, stretching/ relaxation); 50–60 min Duration: Twice per week, 8 weeks CG: Usual care | One question about physical activity during leisure time over the past year | Overall survival | Median: 12.3 months | The unadjusted hazard ratio for survival (IG versus CG) was 1.24 (95% CI, 0.90–1.70; p = .18). After adjustment for age, gender, and KPS score, the hazard ratio was 1.19 (95% CI, 0.86–1.63; P = .30). |
Rief et al. [29] | N = 60; IG: 30; CG: 30 Female: 45%; Mean age: 62.7 | RCT | Single center: Germany | Cancer with spinal bone metastasis; Undergoing radiotherapy | IG: Resistance training for 2 weeks (30 mins) + home practice (3 times a week till 6 months) Duration: Monday to Fri, 2 weeks CG: Passive physical therapy | NR | Overall survival, Progression free survival | Median: 10 months | Overall survival after 12 and 24 months was 80 and 63% in IG, and 70 and 57% in CG respectively (P = 0.688). |
Solheim et al. [30] | N = 46; IG: 25; CG: 21 Female: 56.5% Median age: 61 | RCT (feasibility trial) | 2 centers: Norway; 1 center: UK | Lung cancer (III/IV) or inoperable pancreatic cancer; Scheduled to start chemotherapy | IG: Home-based aerobic (30 mins; twice a week) and resistance training (20 mins; 3 times weekly) + nutritional counselling (30mins ×1 at baseline) + telephone follow-up Duration: 1–2 times a week, 6 weeks CG: Usual care | ActivPAL Steps (number of steps) | Overall survival | NR | The median (SD) survival in treatment arm was 10 (7) months and 8 (10) months in control arm (P = 0.57). |
Uster et al. [31] | N = 58; IG: 29; CG: 29 Female: 31.0% Mean age: 63.0 | RCT | Single center: Switzerland | Metastatic or locally advanced tumors of GI or lung tract cancer | IG: Nutritional counselling (min 3 sessions) + Physical exercise program (warm-up exercises, strength and balance training exercise; 60 mins) Duration: Twice a week, 3 months CG: Usual care | NR | Survival probability | 3 months | The survival probability estimates at 3 months were 1.00 for the patients taking part in the intervention and 0.82 for those in the control group with no significant difference in survival rate (P = 0.25). |