Modality-specific exercise guidelines and quality of life in kidney cancer survivors: A cross-sectional study

Few exercise oncology trials have compared aerobic with strength exercise or compared combined exercise (ie, aerobic and strength training) with aerobic only or strength only. It is unknown what single or combined exercise modality is optimal for quality of life (QoL) in cancer survivors. The purpose of this study is to estimate the prevalence of meeting the combined and independent aerobic and strength exercise guidelines in kidney cancer survivors (KCS) and determine any associations with QoL.

One thousand nine hundred eighty-five KCS were identified through a provincial registry in Canada and mailed a survey including exercise and QoL scales.

Completed surveys were received from 703 KCS. Only 10.1% of KCS reported meeting the combined exercise guidelines. Analyses of covariance indicated that, for most QoL outcomes (eg, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Fatigue), meeting the combined exercise guideline was superior to meeting either single modality guideline that, in turn, were superior to meeting neither guideline. For the primary outcome of the Trial Outcome Index-Fatigue, meeting the combined exercise guideline was superior to meeting (a) neither guideline (P < 0.001), (b) the strength-only guideline (P = 0.021), and (c) the aerobic-only guideline (P = 0.051). In turn, the aerobic and strength exercise only guidelines were superior to meeting neither guideline (P < 0.001 for aerobic; P = 0.045 for strength) but were not different from each other (P = 0.50).

Meeting the combined exercise guideline has favorable associations with QoL in KCS, however, very few KCS are meeting the combined guideline.