Multimodal Prehabilitation Program That Combines Physical Exercise, Psychological Intervention and Nutritional Support to Improve the Response to Neoadjuvant Chemoterhapy in Early Breast Cancer Patients

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Multimodal prehabilitation: Multimodal prehabilitation program during NACT (4-6 months) that will combine: 1) Physical exercise: cardiovascular and strength exercises designed by specialized physiotherapists, structured in 1-hour sessions twice a week. The characteristics of the activity will be adapted to the treatment phase and the physical condition of each woman. 2) Psychological therapies: standardized mindfullness practice by a specialized psychologist. As an alternative, patients who refuse mindfullness could receive psychological sessions on stress and anxiety management. 3) Nutritional counseling: periodic sessions with a specialized nutritionist providing dietary recommendations and nutritional advice adapted to the disease and condition of the patients.

Study summary

The aim of this clinical trial is to evaluate whether following a multimodal prehabilitation program including physical exercise, nutritional support and psychological intervention during neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients could improve the pathological response to chemotherapy.

214 women with non-metastatic breast cancer with indication of chemotherapy before surgery will be eligible to participate. Patients will be randomly assigned to either the intervention group or the control group.

* Patients assigned to the intervention group (107 women) will undergo a directed multimodal prehabilitation program during the chemotherapy (4-6 months), including structured physical exercise, psychological intervention and nutritional guidance.
* Patients assigned to the control group (107 women) will undergo standard clinical management for their disease without multimodal prehabilitation.

The response to chemotherapy between the two groups will be evaluated and compared. It is expected that multimodal prehabilitation will increase the response to chemotherapy and will improve the postoperative recovery of patients and their quality of life, as well as reducing the number of complications from surgery and chemotherapy treatment. Changes in the tumor microenvironment are also expected after prehabilitation.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Residual Cancer Burden Index (RCB) — From enrollment (baseline, day 1) until the end of treatment at 4-6 months (preoperative).
  The main variable of the trial is the RCB index score, obtained from the histological specimen of the oncological surgery performed after NAC. The four levels of response of the RCB index (RCB 0, I, II and III) will be divided into a favorable profile of response (fRCB), that will include cathegories RCB 0 and I, and an unfavorable response profile (uRCB), including RCB II and III. It is estimated that the average rate of a favorable RCB (fRCB) score, including RCB 0 and RCB I, will be approximately 40% in the control arm. Parallelly, the expected rates of unfavorable RCB (uRCB) scores, including RCB II and RCB III, are 60%. The objective is to improve the response rates by 20% in the intervention group, with 60% of fRCB scores and 40% of uRCB scores in this group.

Trial sites (1)

More Hospital Clinic of Barcelona trials in Spain

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