Are our exercise oncology guidelines fit for purpose: Learnings from an exercise trial involving women with recurrent ovarian cancer

Speaker: Dr. Sandi Hayes
Date: May 23rd, 2025

The ECHO-R trial was a phase II trial designed to evaluate the safety and feasibility of adding exercise to chemotherapy for recurrent ovarian cancer. Weekly exercise targets were aligned with international exercise oncology guidelines and women were supported to achieve these targets through 12 exercise counselling telephone calls with study-trained Exercise Oncology Professionals provided over a 6-month period. Quantitative findings on safety, feasibility and effect, and qualitative findings on barriers, attitudes, facilitators and preferences of physical activity will be presented and provide a backdrop for discussing the extent to which our exercise oncology guidelines are fit-for-purpose across our heterogenous cancer population

Effects of exercise in patients with metastatic disease

Speaker: Dr. Anne May
Date: April 24th, 2025

In this talk, Dr. Anne May will present the current evidence from randomized controlled trials on the effects of exercise for patients with metastatic disease. Dr. Anne May will highlight the results of the PREFERABLE-EFFECT study and report on the effects of the 9-month exercise intervention on physical fitness, patient-reported outcomes as well the findings regarding cost-effectiveness. Moreover, a patient’s perspective will be addressed.

Exercise in Cancer cachexia: Impact of aerobic training upon skeletal muscle

Speaker: Dr. Jennifer Ligibel
Date: March 20th, 2025

In this talk, Dr. Jennifer Ligibel will review the observational data linking obesity and weight loss to breast cancer risk and outcomes. She will also present the study design and weight loss outcomes of the Breast Cancer Weight Loss (BWEL) Study. Dr. Jennifer Ligibel will discuss BWEL correlative science and the impact of weight loss on metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers, the next steps for BWEL and future considerations.

Exercise in Cancer cachexia: Impact of aerobic training upon skeletal muscle

Speaker: Dr. Patricia C. Brum
Date: March 7th, 2025

In this talk, Dr. Patricia C. Brum will address the benefits of aerobic exercise training to combat skeletal muscle wasting in cancer, focusing on the mechanisms by which aerobic exercise training counteracts cancer cachexia. The relevance of the theme is the fact that skeletal myopathy has been identified as a major comorbidity of cancer patients leading to a poor prognosis associated with reduced antineoplastic tolerability, shortness of breath, early fatigue, and exercise intolerance. Dr. Patricia C. Brum will present data from a recently published study that shows the relationship between muscle functionality and non-small cell lung cancer. At the end of the talk, the audience will be aware of the benefits of aerobic exercise training in cancer cachexia and its impact in muscle proteostasis providing scientific support for using exercise training as an adjuvant strategy for prevention and treatment of cancer.

Improving Delivery of Exercise in Oncology: An implementation science approach

Speaker: Dr. Mary Kennedy
Date: February 21st, 2025

Exercise has been identified as an important therapy for people with cancer; however, it is rarely included as part of routine cancer care. Implementation science (i.e. the study of how to facilitate the use of evidence-based strategies in clinical practice) approaches are needed to improve the delivery of best practice care. In this talk, Dr. Mary Kennedy will explore common barriers to exercise delivery and strategies for success.  

From Inception to Present Day: Evidence, Guidelines, Policy, and Implementation

Speaker: Dr. Sandy Jack
Date: February 6th, 2025

In his talk, Dr. Sandy Jack will present the evidence of the efficacy and effectiveness of prehabilitation in patients undergoing cancer treatments and/or major elective surgery.

She will also discuss the links between prehabilitation and the national commissioning priorities and other new developments in prehabilitation. These will include the 2 International Delphi processes for “Core Outcome Data Sets” on Screening, Assessment and Outcomes for Prehabilitation. This together with the new “working” consensus definition of Prehabilitation together with definitions for the levels of care (Universal, Targeted and Specialist interventions for the pillars of prehabilitation).

Effects of physical activity on T-cell mobilization and immune surveillance – consequences for breast cancer prognosis

Speaker: Dr. Helene Rundqvist
Date: January 23rd, 2025

Maintaining a physically active lifestyle after a breast cancer diagnosis is associated with a reduced risk of recurrence and improved cancer specific survival. Exercise induced shifts in immune function has been suggested as a potential mechanism for the beneficial effects. In this seminar, Dr. Helene Rundqvist will discuss the acute effects of a single bout of exercise on the immune system and the evidence for immune-mediated antineoplastic effects of long-term exercise in animal models, in healthy humans and in patients with primary and metastatic breast cancer.

Exercise Interventions in Post-Surgical Recovery: The blind side of cancer patient care

Speaker: Dr. Justin Jeon
Date: November 22, 2024

Exercise interventions for cancer patients have traditionally followed two approaches: pre-surgical preparation (prehabilitation) and post-recovery rehabilitation. While prehabilitation is well-established, post-surgical rehabilitation typically begins only after patients have fully recovered from surgery. However, this conventional approach presents a critical gap in care, as many cancer patients experience prolonged recovery periods with delayed return to physical function. To address this gap, we conducted a series of randomized controlled trials investigating the implementation of exercise interventions beginning just one day after surgery in breast, colorectal, and gastric cancer patients. This novel approach challenges the traditional paradigm of waiting for full surgical recovery before initiating exercise rehabilitation. This presentation will examine findings from five randomized controlled trials, including both published and unpublished data, demonstrating the impact of early post-surgical exercise intervention on both immediate recovery outcomes and long-term physical parameters. These studies provide new insights into the safety, feasibility, and effectiveness of early exercise implementation in post-surgical cancer care.

Exercise across the post-diagnosis cancer continuum: A new framework for the study of exercise oncology

Speaker: Dr. Kerry Courneya
Date: September 19, 2024

In this talk, Dr. Kerry Courneya will present a new integrated framework—Exercise Across the Post-diagnosis Cancer Continuum (EPiCC)—that highlights the distinct roles of exercise for disease treatment and supportive care from diagnosis until death. The EPiCC Framework is structured around multiple sequential cancer treatments that highlight six distinct cancer treatment-related time periods for exercise—before treatments, during treatments, between treatments, immediately after successful treatments, during longer term survivorship after successful treatments, and during end of life after unsuccessful treatments. The aim of the EPiCC Framework is to stimulate a more targeted, integrated, and clinically-informed approach to the study of exercise after a cancer diagnosis.