Cetuximab combined to chemotherapy in elderly patients with advanced metastatic colorectal cancer

Abstract

exercise intervention on objectively measured physical activity (PA). Methods: Twenty-one consecutive patients (12 male, median age 59 (45-77) years) with locally advanced rectal cancer were studied (CPET and PA) before and after NACRT (week 0), as well as at 3 and 9 weeks post NACRT. All patients underwent 18 sessions of supervised, in-hospital, structured, responsive, interval, exercise training for 6 weeks immediately after NACRT. PA was measured over 3 consecutive weekdays using SenseWear biaxial accelerometers worn over the right triceps. Results: All patients completed NACRT, the exercise programme (with 93% adherence) and proceeded to elective surgery. Changes in oxygen uptake (Vo2) at lactate threshold (LT) and daily number of steps are presented in Table 1. There is strong evidence of an effect of time. The mean Vo2 at LT is 18% lower at week 0 compared to preNACRT (12.2 vs. 10.3; p b 0.0001). The mean Vo2 at L is 12% higher at week 3 (10.3 vs. 11.5; p = 0.014) and 18% higher at week 9 (10.3 vs. 12.2; p = 0.001) compared to week 0. Daily average ‘on body’ time for activity monitoring was similar at all time points (p = 0.24). This cohort had a low level of baseline physical activity (mean 6106 steps per day). The mean number of steps is 35% lower at week 0 compared to pre-NACRT (5566 vs. 3645; p = 0.0005). The mean Vo2 at LT is 39% higher at week 3 (3645 vs.6024; p b 0.0001) and 39% higher at week 9 (3645 vs. 5978; p b 0.0001) compared to week 0. There was no significant change in lung function, haemoglobin or mean BMI (p N 0.05) at any time point. Correlation of number of steps and Vo2 at LT averaged across all time points was strong (r = 0.71, p = 0.0003).