Patient selection and consent process
Patients will be identified during the multidisciplinary cancer staging process at the Northern Oesophago-gastric Unit. Suitable patients, who meet the eligibility criteria, will be provided with a patient information sheet (PIS) explaining the study. They will be consented for the study after the finalised oncological treatment plan has been agreed by the multidisciplinary team and discussed with the patient. By providing a PIS early in the staging process patients will have sufficient time to consider their participation in the study and ask questions. All eligible patients will be approached, and participation will be voluntary: they will be able to withdraw consent at any point during the study. Patients who have not agreed to take part in the study by the time they start their first chemotherapy session will not be eligible to participate.
During the first study enrolment meeting, informed, written consent will be obtained prior to any study procedures and each patient will be asked to complete baseline QLQ-C30 and QLQ-OG25 quality of life questionnaires(12, 13). The handgrip strength of their dominant hand will be measured using grip strength dynamometer (T.K.K. 5101 GRIP-D, Takei scientific instruments Co., Ltd., Japan). Participants will be provided with a simple, easy to use pedometer (Walking style One 2.1, Omron Healthcare UK Ltd., UK), resistance band (BodyMax resistance tube, BodyMax Ltd., UK) and exercise diaries. They will receive information about what the exercise intervention involves and taught how to use the pedometer, resistance band and exercise diaries.
Intervention
Baseline measurement
Once enrolled into the study, participants will immediately enter a one-week period of monitoring using a pedometer to record their habitual physical activity (daily step count). This initial period will be used to establish a baseline physical activity level for each participant and will be used to calculate each individual’s median daily step count. Baseline CPET and CT data will be collated at this point. Both CPET and CT data will have been performed as part of routine clinical care during the multidisciplinary team (MDT) staging process. See Fig. 1.
The exercise intervention
The exercise intervention will start immediately following completion of the one-week period of baseline monitoring. The intervention will continue during chemotherapy and afterwards in the time period between the end of chemotherapy and the planned surgical resection. The intervention will be personalised to each patient based on their baseline level of activity (as recorded by a pedometer during the first week of observation), age, general health, motivation and social circumstances with the aim of achieving the greatest improvement in their cardiopulmonary fitness.
The exercise intervention will aim to achieve an increase in daily step count of 2000 steps per day, 7 days per week(17). This increase in physical activity (step count) will be achieved by walking or jogging at moderate intensity for a target of 30 minutes per day, each day (this is one ‘bout‘ of moderate intensity exercise)(18). Participants will be instructed on how to achieve moderate intensity physical activity using the modified Borg rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale (0–10) aiming to achieve an RPE level between 3–4 (moderate to somewhat strong exertion)(19). This will ensure that the intensity at which these 30-minute bouts of physical activity are maintained throughout the entire exercise period. Patients will be asked to record their daily step count at the end of every day and the RPE for the 30-minute bout of exercise. The Borg scale will be used as a tool to describe levels of home-based physical activity throughout the study.
After the first week of the intervention, patients will be contacted by a member of the research team; and with the research team’s support they will be given the option to maintain or to increase their step count further if they feel that they have managed to achieve the prescribed amount of steps in the previous week. The same approach will be used after each week of the intervention. The aim of this is to facilitate a participant-led increase in daily physical activity based upon increasing the daily step target. Participants will also be encouraged to perform other physical activities like jogging, swimming, cycling or group activities if they wish and feel able to do so.
The participants’ progress will be monitored in a daily diary entry.
After completion of NAC, a further enhanced increase in the daily activity above the current physical activity level will be implemented providing the patient is comfortable with this progression. The level of this increase will be based on current progress and, as such will be tailored to individual needs and circumstances. This incremental period will start 7 days after the last Capecitabine tablet (given as part of the chemotherapy) and continue until the end of the study and the last study visit.
Strengthening exercises
Strengthening exercises will be performed alongside the exercise intervention. Strengthening exercises will be performed every day, 7 days per week, and will start after the end of the baseline observation week has been completed. The patients will be taught how to perform two sets of five simple exercises (sit to stand/wall squat, biceps curl, upright row, leg abduction, wall press), each for 1-minute duration by a member of the research team. This equates to 10 minutes of strengthening exercise in total each day. Exercises have been selected to strengthen major body muscle groups. Each exercise will be prescribed at two levels of intensity in order to tailor them to individual fitness levels. A booklet demonstrating the correct performance of the strengthening exercises will be given to each patient to take home. They will receive weekly telephone calls to encourage and reinforce the importance and conduct of these strengthening exercises.
Interim analysis of step-based regimen
Once the first ten participants have each completed the first week of the exercise regimen during NAC, we will perform an interim analysis of their achieved daily step count during this first week. If ≥ 60% of participants have not achieved the prescribed daily step count for at least 5 days of this week, then we will lower the increment in steps described within the protocol. We will change this initial increment to 1000 steps above baseline daily step count for all participants recruited after the interim analysis.
Conversely, if ≥ 80% of participants have achieved the prescribed daily step count for all 7 days of the first NAC exercise week, we will increase our first increment to 3000 steps above baseline daily step count for all participants recruited after the interim analysis.
This strategy has been chosen to ‘fine adjust’ our initial step increment after the first observation week as it is difficult to predict how demanding this increment is going to be for patients, especially in the context of starting chemotherapy treatment. There is no current evidence to guide this decision. Based on the findings from the Active-at-Home HF pilot study in stable chronic heart failure patients, we replicated the same physical activity steps/day in our patients, i.e. an increase of 2000 steps/day from baseline physical activity(17).
Weekly telephone reporting, reinforcement and encouragement
A member of the research team will contact each study participant once per week by telephone in order to provide support, reinforce the aims of programme and reiterate the benefits, monitor activities and exercises, collect the previous week’s data and provide positive feedback. Participants will be encouraged to reflect upon the previous weeks achievements and discuss any problems or factors which may have inhibited progress with a view to identifying strategies to overcome these problems, where possible. These will be recorded by the research team. Patients will be given the opportunity to increase their daily target for the next week if they feel that this is achievable or appropriate.
Completion of the exercise intervention
The end of the study period is defined as the last full week of exercise before surgery. Participants will complete an end of study CPET, hand grip strength measurement, blood sampling and quality of life questionnaires during the two weeks prior to their scheduled surgery. A CT scan, which is performed as part of routine clinical care prior to the surgery, will be used for comparison with the initial CT scan to measure sarcopenia.
Cardiopulmonary exercise testing
The end of study CPET will be performed in accordance with the American Thoracic Society/American College of Chest Physicians guidelines(20). Patients will perform a symptom-limited continuous ramped test on cycle ergometer (Ergoselect 200, Ergoline GmbH, Germany). Metabolic gas analysis will be conducted via the metabolic cart (Ultima Series, MGC Diagnostics, USA). CPET data will be analysed using the Breeze SuiteTM software (Ultima Series, MGC Diagnostics, USA). This will be performed initially alongside staging investigations, which is part of normal routine clinical care and additionally prior to surgery as part of the study protocol.
Usual clinical care during the study
All participants enrolled in the study will be managed according to the standardised patient pathway that already exists. Patients are reviewed by the surgical team and counselled with regards to the treatment options that are available. Those patients that are struggling nutritionally are then reviewed by one of two specialist upper gastrointestinal dietitians. If patients are unable to manage sufficient calorie input without assistance, they may have a naso-enteric feeding tube placed or a feeding jejunostomy so that they receive sufficient calories.