A study of moderate exercise for prostate cancer that has spread (EXACT MCRPC)

Cancer type:

Prostate cancer
Secondary cancers

Status:

Results

Phase:

Pilot

This study looked at an exercise programme for men having hormone therapy for prostate cancer.  

It was open for people to join between 2018 and 2022. The team published the results in 2023.

More about this trial

Prostate cancer that has spread to another part of the body is called metastatic prostate cancer.

We know from research that exercise can help improve fitness and reduce the side effects of cancer treatment. It also improves quality of life.  

When this study was done, there wasn’t much research into exercise for people with prostate cancer that had spread. Researchers wanted to find out if testing an exercise programme at home was possible. 

This study involved a 12 week exercise programme. The exercises were moderate in intensity. The study team created an individual exercise plan for each person. Everyone did the exercises at home once a day. They filled in a diary about the exercises they did and some quality of life questionnaires. 

Everyone wore a small device like a FitBit at the beginning and end of the study. This was to help work out how fit the men were. 

The main aims of the study were to: 

  • find out what men think about the exercise programme
  • see how willing they are to take part
  • see if it is possible to run this study

Summary of results

30 men joined the study:

  • 24 completed the exercise programme and of those
  • 22 went to the final check up at 3 months 

The team looked at who had stuck to the 12 week programme. This was about 20 men (82%).

They also looked at how the exercise programme had worked. The team found:

  • the men had lost a bit of weight at the end of the programme but hadn’t kept it off at the 3 month follow up 
  • the programme improved levels of fitness 

Quality of life
The team looked at how the exercise programme affected quality of life. At the 3 month follow up, most men said they felt less tired. This was compared to how tired they felt before they started the exercise programme. 

Side effects 
No one said they had any side effects caused by the exercise programme. 

Conclusion
The team found that the programme was safe and possible to do in people with metastatic prostate cancer. 

This was a small study. The team suggest a larger trial is done to confirm these findings. 

More detailed information
There is more information about this research in the reference below. 

Please note, the information we link to here is not in plain English. It has been written for healthcare professionals and researchers.

Feasibility of home‑based exercise training during adjuvant treatment for metastatic castrate‑resistant prostate cancer patients treated with an androgen receptor pathway inhibitor (EXACT)
M Brown and others
Supportive Care in Cancer 2023. Volume 31, article number 442.

Where this information comes from    
We have based this summary on the information in the article above. This has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed Open a glossary item) and published in a medical journal. We have not analysed the data ourselves. As far as we are aware, the link we list above is active and the article is free and available to view.

Recruitment start:

Recruitment end:

How to join a clinical trial

Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.

Please note - unless we state otherwise in the summary, you need to talk to your doctor about joining a trial.

Chief Investigator

Dr Gillian Prue

Supported by

HSC Public Health Agency
Queen’s University Belfast
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust 

If you have questions about the trial please contact our cancer information nurses

Freephone 0808 800 4040

Last review date

CRUK internal database number:

16444

Please note - unless we state otherwise in the summary, you need to talk to your doctor about joining a trial.

Last reviewed:

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