Home-based supervised exercise on metastatic cancer patients receiving oral targeted therapy: the AFSOS-Unicancer QUALIOR randomized phase 2 study.

BACKGROUND

QUALIOR-phase 2 multicenter trial explored the feasibility of a home-based supervised physical exercise program (SPEP) in metastatic cancer patients receiving oral targeted therapies.

METHODS

Patients with metastatic cancers receiving oral targeted therapies were randomized (2:1) to a 3-month home-based SPEP (with a coach at home) or recommended adapted physical exercises (booklet). Primary endpoint was feasibility defined as the rate of patients who performed at least 50% of the theoretically planned sessions in the SPEP arm. Main secondary endpoints were fatigue and pain evaluated by visual analogue scales (VAS) during the program.

RESULTS

Among 112 patients, 74 and 38 were included in the SPEP and control arms, respectively. Median age was 59 (range: 31-83) years and the majority of patients were women. Main primary tumor location was breast (57%) and kidney (16%). Thirty-three (30%) patients were treated with anti-angiogenic tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and 53 (47%) received epidermal growth factor receptor or cell cycle inhibitors. Forty-five (61%) patients performed at least 50% of the SPEP. Median fatigue decreased from 4 to 3 (range: 0-10) after 3 months in the SPEP group with maintain of pain control. The percentage of patients with high level VAS of fatigue at 3 months was lower in SPEP arm than in the control arm (27% vs. 62%, P = .004).

CONCLUSIONS

QUALIOR showed that SPEP with a coach at home was feasible in patients with metastatic cancers treated with oral targeted therapies. This program could mitigate the fatigue induced by oral targeted therapies.