Inflammation, cardiometabolic markers and functional changes in a randomized controlled trial of a 12-month exercise program for prostate cancer men

INTRODUCTION    Previous studies have shown that physical exercise in cancer patients during radiotherapy (RT) and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) improves cardiac fitness and quality of life (QoL), and reduces fatigue but it is still not entirely known how it affects inflammation or metabolic factors and what its consequences are in prostate cancer (PCa) patients. OBJECTIVES    Effect of a 12-month physical exercise program on inflammatory and cardiometabolic factors, and on functional status in PCa patients undergoing RT and ADT. PATIENTS AND METHODS    Seventy-two high-risk and intermediate-risk PCa men were allocated to two groups before RT. This was a randomized controlled clinical trial. The physical exercise group (EG) trained 5 days/wk during RT and then 3 days/wk. Patients in control group performed usual care according to recommendations (UG). Measurements were performed at baseline, after RT (8 weeks), and after 10 months. The parameters assessed were pro-inflammatory cytokine levels (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α), lipid profile, aerobic capacity, BMI, WHR, and functional status (FACT-F and EORTC questionnaires). RESULTS    There was a significant improvement in functional capacity, BMI, WHR (p<0.05), decrease in the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (p>0.05) and fatigue (p<0.05) in EG compared to UG after 12 months. The fatigue was significantly higher in UG (p<0.05) especially after RT. CONCLUSIONS    Long-term supervised exercise training is more effective than physical activity educational materials as regards cardiovascular risk decrease and improvement of functional status in PCa patients during RT and ADT.

Polskie Archiwum Medycyny Wewnetrznej. 2017 Jan 10 [Epub ahead of print]

Katarzyna Hojan, Eliza Kwiatkowska-Borowczyk, Ewa Leporowska, Piotr Milecki