CLINICAL NEWS
Can a Post-AHCT, High-Intensity Exercise Program
Improve Quality of Life in Patients With Myeloma?
Patients with myeloma who undergo autologous
hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) may
experience a decline in health-related quality
of life (HRQoL). Although exercise has been
shown to improve physical fitness
and cancer-related fatigue for other
conditions, researchers found that
a prescribed high-intensity exercise
program provided no substantial
benefits over usual care, according to a
study published in PLoS One.
In the single-blind, multicenter,
prospective, randomized, controlled
EXIST (EXercise Intervention after
Stem cell Transplantation) study,
Saskia Persoon, PhD, from the
Department of Rehabilitation at
the Academic Medical Center at
the University of Amsterdam in
the Netherlands, and co-authors
compared physical fitness – and
HRQoL– outcomes between patients
assigned to usual care and those
assigned to an 18-week high-
intensity resistance exercise and
interval training program.
“[We observed]
no significant
favorable