ClinicalTrials.gg
Active, not recruitingNCT06858631IMPACTUpdated Mar 5, 2025

IMPact of AerobiC Exercise in Addition to Nutritional Treatment on Quality of Life After Pancreatectomy

An interventional study of Physical Aerobic Exercise in Pancreatic Tumors, Diabetes and Malabsorption, sponsored by Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS. Active, not recruiting at 1 site in Italy. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 80 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-03-05.

Sponsored by Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Dec 2025, 10 months ago, but the record still lists the study as active, not recruiting.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
38
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
18 Years to 80 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The goal of this interventional study is to assess the impact of a 6-month unsupervised aerobic exercise program on the quality of life of patients undergoing partial or total pancreatectomy. The main question it aims to answer is:

Does an aerobic exercise program improve physical functioning and overall quality of life in post-pancreatectomy patients?

Eligible participants will be assigned to either an exercise group or a control group. Quality of life will be evaluated using standardized scoring scales, with a focus on physical functioning. Secondary outcomes include changes in metabolic parameters (glycemia, HbA1c, lipid profile), BMI, and overall survival.

02

Conditions studied

  • Pancreatic Tumors
  • Diabetes
  • Malabsorption

Keywords

  • Pancreatectomy
  • Quality of Life
  • Physical Exercise
03

In context

Pancreatic Neoplasms

3,896 studies on the registry are indexed under Pancreatic Neoplasms; 1,007 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 38 is below the median of 47 across 2,932 interventional studies indexed under Pancreatic Neoplasms.

Browse Pancreatic Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS is the lead sponsor of 952 studies on the registry; 541 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 80 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Signed
  • Male or female patients who have undergone partial or total pancreatectomy
  • Age ≥18 and ≤80 years
  • Ability to understand and complete questionnaires and willingness to participate in periodic assessments
  • No symptoms suggestive of cardiovascular issues (e.g., angina, dyspnea, palpitations, syncope)
  • No evidence of ischemic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, valvular heart disease, myocarditis, diseases, infections, or fractures that would contraindicate moderate-intensity aerobic activity

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Age >80 or \<18 years
  • Cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, rheumatologic, or neurocognitive disorders contraindicating aerobic exercise
  • 10-year cardiovascular risk >20% without cardiological/sports medicine evaluation
  • Diagnosis of unresectable tumor
  • Presence of
  • Pregnancy or breastfeeding
  • Ongoing chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy
  • ≥30
  • BMI ≤18.5
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(4)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Autoimmune disease

A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.

Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.

Metastases

Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.

BMI (body mass index)

Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.

What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
38 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Performing Physical Exercise

    Subjects will perferm 30-minute net aerobic exercise sessions at moderate intensity (3-5 METS, 60%-70% of maximum heart rate) three times per week. Participants may choose from walking, cycling, or swimming, with the option to alternate activities to enhance adherence to the program. Each session will include 10 minutes of warm-up (gradual increase in intensity); 30 minutes of aerobic exercise and 10 minutes of cool-down (gradual reduction of intensity and optional stretching). Total weekly exercise duration will be 150 minutes.

    Behavioral: Physical Aerobic Exercise

  • No intervention
    Control

    Subjects will undergo usual nutritional and endocrinological follow up after pancreatectomy. They will not perform any physical aerobic exercise.

Interventions

  • BehavioralPhysical Aerobic Exercise

    30-minute net aerobic exercise sessions at moderate intensity (3-5 METS, 60%-70% of maximum heart rate) three times per week. Walking, cycling, or swimming, with the option to alternate activities to enhance adherence to the program. Each session will include 10 minutes of warm-up (gradual increase in intensity); 30 minutes of aerobic exercise and 10 minutes of cool-down (gradual reduction of intensity and optional stretching). Total weekly exercise duration will be 150 minutes

    Also known as: Physical activity

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Improvement in quality of life

    Identify changes in the quality-of-life score from the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 (v3). The EORTC QLQ-C30 (v3) evaluates health status through nine multi-item scales: Five functional scales (physical, role, cognitive, emotional, social); three symptom scales (fatigue, pain, nausea/vomiting); one global health status scale. Additionally, six single-item scales assess symptoms commonly associated with neoplastic disease and its treatment (dyspnea, insomnia, appetite loss, constipation, diarrhea, and financial difficulties).

    Time frame: 12 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Detect changes in physical symptomps with the pancreas-specific PAN26 questionnaire.

    Assess possible changes in physical symptomps with the pancreas-specific PAN26 questionnaire. The PAN26 questionnaire consists of 26 four-level items, producing seven multi-item scale scores (each composed of two to four items) and nine single-item scores.

    Time frame: 12 months

  2. Assessing changes in muscle power between subjects ongoing nutritional plan versus subjects ongoing nutritional plan and physical exercise

    The subjects will be using their dominant hand, applies as much grip pressure as possible on the dynamometer. The assistant will record the maximum reading (kg). The subjects will repeat the test 3 times and the highest recorded value will be recorded to assess the subject's performance.

    Time frame: 12 months

  3. Detect changes in body mass index during the follow-up.

    At each follow-up visit, height (m) and weight (kg) will be recorded. BMI will then be measured as kg/m².

    Time frame: 12 months

07

Study locations

1 site
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Katsourakis A, Vrabas I, Papanikolaou V, Apostolidis S, Chatzis I, Noussios G. The Role of Exercise in the Quality of Life in Patients After Pancreatectomy: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial. J Clin Med Res. 2019 Jan;11(1):65-71. doi: 10.14740/jocmr3675. Epub 2018 Dec 3. PubMed 30627280 ↗
  • Yeo TP, Burrell SA, Sauter PK, Kennedy EP, Lavu H, Leiby BE, Yeo CJ. A progressive postresection walking program significantly improves fatigue and health-related quality of life in pancreas and periampullary cancer patients. J Am Coll Surg. 2012 Apr;214(4):463-75; discussion 475-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2011.12.017. Epub 2012 Feb 7. PubMed 22321518 ↗
  • Duijts SF, Faber MM, Oldenburg HS, van Beurden M, Aaronson NK. Effectiveness of behavioral techniques and physical exercise on psychosocial functioning and health-related quality of life in breast cancer patients and survivors--a meta-analysis. Psychooncology. 2011 Feb;20(2):115-26. doi: 10.1002/pon.1728. PubMed 20336645 ↗
  • Sweegers MG, Altenburg TM, Chinapaw MJ, Kalter J, Verdonck-de Leeuw IM, Courneya KS, Newton RU, Aaronson NK, Jacobsen PB, Brug J, Buffart LM. Which exercise prescriptions improve quality of life and physical function in patients with cancer during and following treatment? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Br J Sports Med. 2018 Apr;52(8):505-513. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2017-097891. Epub 2017 Sep 27. PubMed 28954800 ↗
  • Campbell KL, Winters-Stone KM, Wiskemann J, May AM, Schwartz AL, Courneya KS, Zucker DS, Matthews CE, Ligibel JA, Gerber LH, Morris GS, Patel AV, Hue TF, Perna FM, Schmitz KH. Exercise Guidelines for Cancer Survivors: Consensus Statement from International Multidisciplinary Roundtable. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2019 Nov;51(11):2375-2390. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000002116. PubMed 31626055 ↗
  • Rock CL, Thomson CA, Sullivan KR, Howe CL, Kushi LH, Caan BJ, Neuhouser ML, Bandera EV, Wang Y, Robien K, Basen-Engquist KM, Brown JC, Courneya KS, Crane TE, Garcia DO, Grant BL, Hamilton KK, Hartman SJ, Kenfield SA, Martinez ME, Meyerhardt JA, Nekhlyudov L, Overholser L, Patel AV, Pinto BM, Platek ME, Rees-Punia E, Spees CK, Gapstur SM, McCullough ML. American Cancer Society nutrition and physical activity guideline for cancer survivors. CA Cancer J Clin. 2022 May;72(3):230-262. doi: 10.3322/caac.21719. Epub 2022 Mar 16. PubMed 35294043 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Mar 5, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06858631
Responsible party
Mezza Teresa (Dr., Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS) — Principal investigator
First posted
Mar 5, 2025
Start date
Jan 1, 2025
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2025 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 31, 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Mar 5, 2025

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Jan 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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