CClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT04589468Updated Aug 27, 2026

Researching the Effect of Exercise on Cancer

An interventional study of Exercise in Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer and Colorectal Cancer, sponsored by City of Hope Medical Center. Recruiting at 9 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-27.

Sponsored by City of Hope Medical Center · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
51
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Researchers think that exercise may be able to prevent cancer from coming back by lowering ctDNA levels. The purpose of this study is to explore how aerobic exercise (exercise that stimulates and strengthens the heart and lungs and improves the body's use of oxygen) can reduce the level of ctDNA found in the blood. During the study, the highest level of exercise that is practical, is safe, and has positive effects on the body that may prevent the return of cancer (including a decrease in ctDNA levels) will be found. Each level of exercise tested will be a certain number of minutes each week. Once the best level of exercise is found, it will be tested further in a new group of participants. All participants in this study will have been previously treated for breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer.

02

Conditions studied

  • Breast Cancer
  • Prostate Cancer
  • Colorectal Cancer
  • Stage I Breast Cancer
  • Stage II Breast Cancer
  • Stage III Breast Cancer
  • Stage I Prostate Cancer
  • Stage II Prostate Cancer
  • Stage III Prostate Cancer
  • Stage I Colorectal Cancer
  • Stage II Colorectal Cancer
  • Stage III Colorectal Cancer

Keywords

  • Breast Cancer
  • Prostate Cancer
  • Colorectal Cancer
  • exercise
  • ctDNA
  • 20-378
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
03

In context

Breast Neoplasms

12,544 studies on the registry are indexed under Breast Neoplasms; 2,892 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 51 is below the median of 72 across 9,303 interventional studies indexed under Breast Neoplasms.

Browse Breast Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

City of Hope Medical Center is the lead sponsor of 670 studies on the registry; 181 are open to participants now.

Of its 30 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 12 (40%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Postsurgical diagnosis of patients with primary solid tumors at high-risk of relapse as defined by one of the following:

    ° High-risk primary solid tumor (e.g., colorectal, ovarian, non-small cell lung cancer) (colorectal cancer only for Phase 1a)

  • Stage 3 or
  • ctDNA positive

    ° High-risk breast cancer

  • Residual invasive disease in the breast or the lymph nodes following completion of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT),
  • Estrogen receptor (ER), and/or progesterone receptor (PR) positive and HER2 negative,
  • CPS-EG score ≥ 3,
  • CPS-EG score ≥2 w ith ypN+, or
  • Recurrence score ≥ 25
  • No evidence of disease
  • Age ≥ 18
  • Interval of ≥ 1 month but ≤ 2 years following completion of all definitive adjuvant therapy
  • Non-exercising (i.e., \< 30 minutes of moderate and \< 20 mins of vigorous exercise/wk), as assessed by remote activity and heart rate tracking for a 7-day period prior to study entry)

    ° If ≥ 30 minutes but less than 45 minutes of moderate exercise/week, or if ≥ 20 minutes but less than 30 minutes of vigorous exercise/week, patients may be eligible, at the discretion of the PI.

  • Cleared for exercise participation as per screening clearance via PAR-Q+
  • Willingness to comply with all study-related procedures

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Enrollment onto any other interventional investigational study except interventions determined by the PI not to confound study outcomes
  • Any other current diagnosis of invasive cancer of any kind
  • Distant metastatic malignancy of any kind
  • Any other condition or intercurrent illness that, in the opinion of the investigator, makes the subject a poor candidate for study participation
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Sequential assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
51 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Dose-Finding/Escalation

    Fifty (n=50) post-treatment patients with colorectal cancer or breast cancer, deemed high-risk of relapse. The study will use an adaptive continuous reassessment method (CRM) design to assign patients sequentially at trial entry to one of five escalated doses depending on the feasibility / tolerability of exercise therapy evaluated over the total treatment period. The primary objective of this phase 1a trial is to identify the RP2D of exercise therapy for further evaluation in the phase 1b trial.

    Other: Exercise

  • Experimental
    Dose Expansion

    An independent cohort of 30 post-treatment patients with colorectal (n=15) or breast (n=15) cancer deemed high-risk of relapse. This cohort expansion trial will only evaluate the RP2D identified in the phase 1a trial. The primary objective of this phase 1b trial is to further evaluate the feasibility, safety, and biological activity of the RP2D.

    Other: Exercise

Interventions

  • OtherExercise

    Exercise therapy in both phases will consist of individualized walking delivered 3 to 6 times weekly (over a 7-day period). Exercise treatment will be delivered for up to 18 months, or until progression of disease or withdrawal of consent, whichever comes first. The phase 1a trial will assess five doses of exercise therapy (i.e., 90, 150, 225, 300, and 375 mins/wk) delivered following a non-linear (i.e., exercise dose is continually altered and progressed in conjunction with appropriate rest/recovery sessions across the entire intervention period) dosing schedule. The phase 1b trial will only test one dose of exercise therapy - the RP2D identified in the phase 1a trial.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Identify the recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D) of exercise for testing in the phase 1b.

    Using an adaptive phase 1 (non-randomized) design, non-exercising (i.e., \<60 mins/wk of moderate or vigorous exercise) post-treatment patients with primary breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer and detectable ctDNA (n=50) will be administered one of five escalating dose levels.

    Time frame: 24 weeks

07

Study locations

1 of 9 sites recruiting
  • City of Hope Medical Center
    Durate, California 91010, United States
    • Lee Jones, MD · Contact · leejones@coh.org · 6262184673
    • Lee Jones, MD · Principal investigator
    Recruiting
  • Natera, Inc. (Data or Specimen Analysis Only)
    San Carlos, California 94070, United States
    • Shifra Krinshpun · Contact · 510-826-3572
    Not yet recruiting
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Basking Ridge (Limited Protocol Activities)
    Basking Ridge, New Jersey 07920, United States
    Active, not recruiting
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth (Limited Protocol Activities)
    Middletown, New Jersey 07748, United States
    Active, not recruiting
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Bergen (Limited Protocol Activities)
    Montvale, New Jersey 07645, United States
    Active, not recruiting
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Commack (Limited Protocol Activities)
    Commack, New York 11725, United States
    Active, not recruiting
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Westchester (Limited Protocol Activities)
    Harrison, New York 10604, United States
    Active, not recruiting
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
    New York, New York 10065, United States
    Active, not recruiting
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Nassau (Limited Protocol Activities)
    Uniondale, New York 11553, United States
    Active, not recruiting
08

References and documents

Study documents

  • Informed consent form · Oct 7, 2024

Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 27, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04589468
Lead sponsor
City of Hope Medical Center
Collaborators
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Oct 19, 2020
Start date
Oct 30, 2026 (estimated)
Primary completion
Feb 13, 2028 (estimated)
Completion
Feb 13, 2028 (estimated)
Last update
Aug 27, 2026

Study contacts

Lee Jones, MD
Contact
leejones@coh.org
6262184673
Lee Jones, MD
principal investigator · City of Hope Medical Center

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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