Original article A randomized trial of exercise and quality of life in colorectal cancer survivors K. S. COURNEYA, PHD1, C. M. FRIEDENREICH, PHD2, H. A. QUINNEY, PHD1, A. L. A. FIELDS, MD2, L. W. JONES, PHD1 & A. S. FAIREY, MS1, We conducted a randomized controlled trial to determine the effects of a home-based exercise intervention on change in quality of life (QOL) in recently resected colorectal cancer survivors, most of whom were receiving adjuvant therapy. Participants were randomly assigned in a 2 : 1 ratio to either an exercise (n = 69) or control (n = 33) group. The exercise group was asked to perform moderate intensity exercise 3-5 times per week for 20-30 min each time. The primary outcome was change in QOL as measured by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Colorectal (FACT-C) scale. Adherence in the exercise group was good (75.8%) but contamination in the control group was problematic (51.6%). Intention-to-treat analysis revealed no significant differences between groups for change in the FACT-C (mean difference, 1.3; 95% CI, 7.8 to 5.1; P = 0.679). In an 'on-treatment' ancillary analysis, we compared participants who decreased versus increased their cardiovascular fitness over the course of the intervention. This analysis revealed significant differences in favour of the increased fitness group for the FACT-C (mean difference, 6.5; 95% CI, 0.4-12.6; P = 0.038). These data suggest that increased cardiovascular fitness is associated with improvements in QOL in colorectal cancer survivors but better controlled trials are needed. 1University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Calgary, Canada 2Alberta Cancer Board, Alberta, Calgary Correspondence Kerry S. Courneya, Faculty of Physical Education, University of Alberta, E-424 Van Vliet Center, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2H9 (e-mail: kerry.courneya@ualberta.ca). To cite this article COURNEYA, K. S., FRIEDENREICH, C. M., QUINNEY, H. A., FIELDS, A. L. A., JONES, L. W. & FAIREY, A. S. (2003) A randomized trial of exercise and quality of life in colorectal cancer survivors. European Journal of Cancer Care 12 (4), 347-357. doi: 10.1046/ j.1365-2354.2003.00437.x Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.