Tomohiro Ikeda1, Kazuhiro Noma2, Naoaki Maeda3, Shunsuke Tanabe3, Yoko Sakamoto4, Yoshimi Katayama1, Yasuhiro Shirakawa5, Toshiyoshi Fujiwara3, Masuo Senda1. 1. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Okayama University, 2-5-1 Shikatacho, Kita-ku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan. 2. Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, 2-5-1 Shikatacho, Kita-ku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan. knoma@md.okayama-u.ac.jp. 3. Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, 2-5-1 Shikatacho, Kita-ku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan. 4. Center for Innovative Clinical Medicine, Okayama University, 2-5-1 Shikatacho, Kita-ku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan. 5. Department of Surgery, Hiroshima City Hiroshima Citizens Hospital, 7-33 Motomachi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima, 730-8518, Japan.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To investigate if early exercise can help prevent skeletal muscle loss and improve the clinical outcomes of esophageal cancer patients receiving preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). METHODS: This was a single-center, retrospective observational cohort study of 110 patients with advanced esophageal cancer. We analyzed the effect of early exercise on the risk of skeletal muscle loss (defined as > 2.98%) during NAC and the subsequent clinical outcomes. Patients in the early exercise group (n = 71) started exercise therapy 8 days earlier than those the late exercise group (n = 39). RESULTS: The median age of the patients was 65.4 years, the mean BMI was 21.1 kg/m2, and 92 (84%) of the 110 patients were men. Skeletal muscle loss occurred in 34% and 67% of the early and late exercise groups, respectively (p < 0.001). There was a lower risk of surgical site infection in the early exercise group (1% vs 16%, p = 0.021). Multivariate analysis revealed that early exercise reduced the risk of skeletal muscle loss (OR = 0.25, 95% CI 0.09-0.65, p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that early exercise reduces the risk of both skeletal muscle loss during NAC and subsequent surgical site infection in patients with esophageal cancer.
PURPOSE: To investigate if early exercise can help prevent skeletal muscle loss and improve the clinical outcomes of esophageal cancer patients receiving preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). METHODS: This was a single-center, retrospective observational cohort study of 110 patients with advanced esophageal cancer. We analyzed the effect of early exercise on the risk of skeletal muscle loss (defined as > 2.98%) during NAC and the subsequent clinical outcomes. Patients in the early exercise group (n = 71) started exercise therapy 8 days earlier than those the late exercise group (n = 39). RESULTS: The median age of the patients was 65.4 years, the mean BMI was 21.1 kg/m2, and 92 (84%) of the 110 patients were men. Skeletal muscle loss occurred in 34% and 67% of the early and late exercise groups, respectively (p < 0.001). There was a lower risk of surgical site infection in the early exercise group (1% vs 16%, p = 0.021). Multivariate analysis revealed that early exercise reduced the risk of skeletal muscle loss (OR = 0.25, 95% CI 0.09-0.65, p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that early exercise reduces the risk of both skeletal muscle loss during NAC and subsequent surgical site infection in patients with esophageal cancer.