Published in:
01-09-2017 | Original Article
Cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength in pancreatic cancer patients
Published in: Supportive Care in Cancer | Issue 9/2017
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Purpose
Cancer patients frequently experience reduced physical fitness due to the disease itself as well as treatment-related side effects. However, studies on physical fitness in pancreatic cancer patients are missing. Therefore, we assessed cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength of pancreatic cancer patients.
Methods
We included 65 pancreatic cancer patients, mostly after surgical resection. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed using cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and 6-min walk test (6MWT). Hand-held dynamometry was used to evaluate isometric muscle strength. Physical fitness values were compared to reference values of a healthy population. Associations between sociodemographic and clinical variables with patients’ physical fitness were analyzed using multiple regression models.
Results
Cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2peak, 20.5 ± 6.9 ml/min/kg) was significantly lower (−24%) compared to healthy reference values. In the 6MWT pancreatic cancer patients nearly reached predicted values (555 vs. 562 m). Maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) of the upper (−4.3%) and lower extremities (−13.8%) were significantly lower compared to reference values. Overall differences were larger in men than those in women. Participating in regular exercise in the year before diagnosis was associated with greater VO2peak (p < .05) and MVIC of the knee extensors (p < .05).
Conclusions
Pancreatic cancer patients had significantly impaired physical fitness with regard to both cardiorespiratory function and isometric muscle strength, already in the early treatment phase (median 95 days after surgical resection). Our findings underline the need to investigate exercise training in pancreatic cancer patients to counteract the loss of physical fitness.