Prostate cancer survivorship priorities for men and their partners: Delphi consensus from a nurse specialist cohort.

AIMS & OBJECTIVES: To describe the prostate cancer survivorship experience and priorities from the perspective of prostate cancer specialist nurses. BACKGROUND: Specialist nurses are providing long-term survivorship care to men and their partners however, few prostate cancer survivorship interventions are effective and priorities for nurse-led survivorship care are poorly understood. DESIGN: A three-round modified Delphi approach. METHODS: The study was conducted between 1 December 2018 and 28 February 2019 to develop a consensus view from an expert nurse cohort (43 prostate cancer specialist nurses: 90% response). First, participants described men's prostate cancer survivorship experience and priorities for improving care for men and partners. In subsequent rounds, participants identified key descriptors of the survivorship experience; rated priorities for importance and feasibility; and identified a top priority action for men and for partners. Thematic analysis and descriptive statistics were applied. Guidelines for Reporting Reliability and Agreement Studies informed the conduct of the study. RESULTS: Prostate cancer specialist nurses characterised the prostate cancer survivorship experience of men as under-resourced, disjointed and distressing. In all, 11 survivorship priorities for men and three for partners were identified within five broad areas: capacity building; care coordination; physical and psychosocial care; community awareness and early detection; and palliative care. However, feasibility for individual items was frequently described as low. CONCLUSION: Internationally, prostate cancer survivorship care for men and their partners requires urgent action to meet future need and address gaps in capacity and care coordination. Low feasibility of survivorship priorities may reflect translational challenges related to capacity. Prostate cancer survivorship care guidelines connected to practice priorities are urgently needed. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: These findings address key gaps in the evidence for developing national nurse-led prostate cancer survivorship priorities. These priorities can be used to inform survivorship guidelines including nursing care for men with prostate cancer and their partners.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Body Composition Responses to Different Intensities and Frequencies of Exercise Training in Colorectal Cancer Survivors.

INTRODUCTION: Deteriorations in cardiorespiratory fitness (V˙o2peak) and body composition are associated with poor prognosis after colorectal cancer treatment. However, the optimal intensity and frequency of aerobic exercise training to improve these outcomes in colorectal cancer survivors is unknown. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This trial compared 8 weeks of moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MICE; 50 minutes; 70% peak heart rate [HRpeak]; 24 sessions), with high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE; 4 × 4 minutes; 85%-95% HRpeak) at an equivalent (HIIE; 24 sessions) and tapered frequency (HIIE-T; 16 sessions) on V˙o2peak and on lean and fat mass, measured at baseline, 4, 8, and 12 weeks. RESULTS: Increases in V˙o2peak were significantly greater after both 4 (+3.0 mL·kg-1·min-1, P = .008) and 8 (+2.3 mL·kg-1·min-1, P = .049) weeks of HIIE compared to MICE. After 8 weeks, there was a significantly greater reduction in fat mass after HIIE compared to MICE (-0.7 kg, P = .038). Four weeks after training, the HIIE group maintained elevated V˙o2peak (+3.3 mL·kg-1·min-1, P = .006) and reduced fat mass (-0.7 kg, P = .045) compared to the MICE group, with V˙o2peak in the HIIE-T also being superior to the MICE group (+2.8 mL·kg-1·min-1, P = .013). CONCLUSION: Compared to MICE, HIIE promotes superior improvements and short-term maintenance of V˙o2peak and fat mass improvements. HIIE training at a reduced frequency also promotes maintainable cardiorespiratory fitness improvements. In addition to promoting accelerated and superior benefits to the current aerobic exercise guidelines, HIIE promotes clinically relevant improvements even with a substantial reduction in exercise training and for a period after withdrawal.

The influence of high-intensity compared with moderate-intensity exercise training on cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition in colorectal cancer survivors: a randomised controlled trial.

PURPOSE: Following colorectal cancer diagnosis and anti-cancer therapy, declines in cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition lead to significant increases in morbidity and mortality. There is increasing interest within the field of exercise oncology surrounding potential strategies to remediate these adverse outcomes. This study compared 4 weeks of moderate-intensity exercise (MIE) and high-intensity exercise (HIE) training on peak oxygen consumption (V̇O2peak) and body composition in colorectal cancer survivors. METHODS: Forty seven post-treatment colorectal cancer survivors (HIE = 27 months post-treatment; MIE = 38 months post-treatment) were randomised to either HIE [85-95 % peak heart rate (HRpeak)] or MIE (70 % HRpeak) in equivalence with current physical activity guidelines and completed 12 training sessions over 4 weeks. RESULTS: HIE was superior to MIE in improving absolute (p = 0.016) and relative (p = 0.021) V̇O2peak. Absolute (+0.28 L.min(-1), p < 0.001) and relative (+3.5 ml.kg(-1).min(-1), p < 0.001) V̇O2 peak were increased in the HIE group but not the MIE group following training. HIE led to significant increases in lean mass (+0.72 kg, p = 0.002) and decreases in fat mass (-0.74 kg, p < 0.001) and fat percentage (-1.0 %, p < 0.001), whereas no changes were observed for the MIE group. There were no severe adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: In response to short-term training, HIE is a safe, feasible and efficacious intervention that offers clinically meaningful improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition for colorectal cancer survivors. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: HIE appears to offer superior improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition in comparison to current physical activity recommendations for colorectal cancer survivors and therefore may be an effective clinical utility following treatment.