. Mixed cancer types. 5 males. Mean age at the time of the study: 19 ± 3 yrs.
Intervention: aerobic training with home exercise twice per week (week 1-2 started with 15 minutes of warm-up, 15 minutes of exercise at 60% of HRmax and 15 minutes of cool-down, week 3–6 30 minutes of exercise at 70–80% HRmax, and week 7–12 30 minutes of aerobic exercise at 70–80% HRmax plus home exercise once per week). Duration: 12 weeks of out-patient cardiac rehabilitation.
Body fat (−), spirometry (−), peak heart rate (−), peak oxygen uptake (−), anaerobic threshold (−), peak cardiac index (−), peak stroke volume index (−), or vascular resistance (−). Exercise time (+13%).
Nonrandomized safety assessment with both a cancer and a healthy control populations. Both did the intervention.
Cancer group: . Children and adolescents receiving maintenance therapy for ALL. Mean age at the time of the study: 11.3 ± 5.3 yrs. Healthy controls: . Mean age at the time of the study: 10.8 ± 4.6 yrs
Intervention: one session (5 minutes of warm-up, 20 minutes of moderate- to high-intensity exercise, and 5 minutes of cool-down) of intermittent run-walk on a treadmill at 70% to 85% of VO2 peak. Controls: age-matched healthy subjects performing the same exercise intervention. Duration: 30 minutes of acute bout of exercise
An acute bout of exercise did not elicit any significant negative effects on neutrophil count.
San Juan, 2007 [43] San Juan, 2007 [23] Ruiz, 2010 [37]
Pretest/posttest trial
. Children receiving maintenance therapy for ALL. 4 boys. Mean age at the time of the study: 5.1 ± 1.2 yrs.
Intervention: three weekly sessions (90–120 minutes) of supervised resistance training (bench press, shoulder press, leg extension, leg curl, leg press, abdominal crunch, lower-back extension, arm curl, elbow extension, seated row, and lateral pull-down; 8–15 repetitions) and aerobic exercise (started with 10 minutes of exercises at 50% of age-predicted HRmax and progressed to 30 minutes of continuous exercise at ≥70% HRmax by the end of the program). Duration: 16 weeks plus 20 weeks of detraining, during treatment
VO2 peak (+), VT (+), functional mobility (+) (TUDs, 3- and 10-meter TUG) and strength tests (+) (seated bench press, seated row, and seated leg press) from before training to after training. Only increased strength remained significant after detraining. Ankle dorsiflexion range of motion (−) or QOL (−). Levels of growth hormone (−), insulin-like growth factors (−), and insulin-like growth binding proteins (−).
. Adolescents with cancer. 2 males. Mean age at the time of the study: 16.2 ± 1.6 (range 14–18) yrs
Intervention: physical activity and educational intervention (30 minutes of educational session, 45 minutes of aerobic training, and 15 minutes of core strength and flexibility training in the first 8 weeks; a variety of noncompetitive physical activities in the final 8 weeks) Duration: 16 weeks, a group-based physical activity intervention. Attendance rate: 81.5% over 16-week intervention.
Upper body strength (+), flexibility (+), total PA (+), QOL (+), and general fatigue (+). Participants failed to maintain their postintervention PA levels at both 3- and 12-month follow-up time points.
. Children after HCT for leukemia. 4 boys. Mean age at the time of the study: 10.9 ± 2.8 yrs.
Intervention: three weekly sessions (90–120 minutes) of supervised resistance training (bench press, shoulder press, leg extension, leg curl, leg press, abdominal crunch, lower-back extension, arm curl, elbow extension, seated row, and lateral pull-down; 11 repetitions) and aerobic exercise (started with 10 minutes of exercises at 50% of age-predicted HRmax and progressed to 30 minutes of continuous exercise at ≥70% HRmax by the end of the program) Duration: 8 weeks, during treatment
Muscle strength (+), VO2 peak (+), functional mobility (+) (TUDs, 3- and 10-meter TUG) and self-reported health status (+). BMI (−), active and passive dorsiflexion range of motion (−), VT (−), or H max (−).
. Children with ALL. Mean age at the time of the study: 9.3 ± 3.2 (range 6–14) yrs
Intervention: two weekly sessions (45 minutes) of supervised resistance training (sit-ups, push-ups, head and leg raises; 30-second repetition maximum and squats 60-second repetition maximum), aerobic exercise (66–77% of HRmax in first 4 weeks, 77–90% HRmax in the following 4 weeks, and ≥90% HRmax in the last 4 weeks) and a home-based exercise program (strength, flexibility, and aerobic fitness). Duration: 12 weeks, community-based exercise program
Seventy percent of trainers were satisfied with the program. BMI (−), muscle strength (−), exercise capacity (−), functional mobility (−), or fatigue levels (−).
. Adult survivors of childhood cancer (mixed cancer types). 14 males. Age at diagnosis 8.1 ± 6.7 years; time since diagnosis 21.8 ± 7.1 years. Mean age at the time of the study: 29.8 ± 8.6 yrs
Intervention: enhanced physical activity (such as walking, cycling, housekeeping, and gardening) counseling. The counselor encouraged the survivors to change their lifestyle and enhance daily physical activity to meet published exercise guidelines (i.e., at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise/week) and phoned the survivors at three weeks, six weeks, and nice weeks to check goals. Feedback from a pedometer. Duration: 10 weeks of counseling.
Significant improvements in fatigue and daily steps after intervention. There was a low correlation (0.12) between increase in daily steps and the decrease in fatigue.
. Children with cancer (hematologic malignancy: 15, solid tumors: 12, unknown: 3). 18 males. Mean age at the time of the study: 13.6 ± 2.9 yrs.
Intervention: three weekly sessions (30 minutes) of adapted physical activity (ball games, circus arts, throwing games, shooting games, racket sports, video games, and body building). Control: standard care without adapted physical activity. Duration: four periods of enhanced physical activity (cross-over).
QOL scores in physical and psychological dimensions were higher for the children who practiced than for those who did not practice adapted physical activity during hospitalization.
Intervention group: . Children who had undergone HCT. 5 boys. Mean age at the time of the study: 8 ± 4 yrs. Control group: . 9 boys. Mean age at the time of the study: 7 ± 3 yrs.
Intervention: Five weekly sessions (~50 minutes) of supervised resistance training (arm curl, elbow extension, bench press, log extension, half squat, abdominal crunch, supine bridge, and rowing; 12–15 repetitions) (stretching exercise involving all major muscle groups) and aerobic exercise (10–40 minutes of cycle ergometry at 50% to 70% of HRmax). Control: standard care. Duration: 3 weeks, during treatment.
Fitness levels (+) (half squat) or body mass (+). Exercise intervention during inpatient stay for HCT did not affect immune cell recovery in young children with high-risk cancer.
Intervention group: . Children and adolescents with ALL. 6 boys. Mean age at the time of the study: 11 ± 4 yrs.Control group: . 6 boys. Mean age at the time of the study: 12.5 ± 4 yrs.
Intervention: three weekly sessions (30 minutes) of individualized home-based aerobic exercise program (exercise intensity: 40%–60% of HRR) Control: standard care Duration: 6 weeks, during treatment
General fatigue (+). Sleep/rest and cognitive fatigue scores (−).
. Children with ALL. 3 males. Median age at time of the study: 4 (range 2–14) yrs
Intervention: individualized home-based exercise program (stretching exercise: ankle dorsiflexion; 5 days/week, strengthening exercise: lower- and upper-extremity exercise; 10 repetitions 5 days/week, and aerobic exercise: walking, bike riding, and dancing 10–30 minutes; 5 days/week). Duration: 6-7 months, during treatment.
Gross motor function (+) and QOL measures (+) throughout the study (at diagnosis, induction, consolidation, interim maintenance, and delayed intensification). However, QOL scores decreased from interim maintenance to delayed intensification. The parents reported being satisfied with the PT program.
*(+) to indicate a significant effect; (−) to indicate no significant effect/change. ALL: acute lymphoblastic leukemia; AML: acute myeloid leukemia; BMD: bone mineral density; BMI: body mass index; CNS: central nervous system; HRR: heart rate reserve; HCT: hematopoietic stem cell transplant; PA: physical activity; PT: physical therapy; QOL: quality of life; VO2 peak: peak aerobic fitness; HRmax: maximum of heart rate; TUDs: time up and down stair test; TUG: timed up and go test; VT: ventilatory threshold.
