Can fasting and exercise beat cancer fatigue?
NCT ID NCT06123988
First seen Aug 26, 2026 · Last updated Aug 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tests whether prolonged overnight fasting, exercise, or both can reduce fatigue in women with advanced breast cancer who are taking CDK4/6 inhibitors with endocrine therapy. Participants will follow a 12-week program of fasting for 12-14 hours overnight, an exercise routine, or a combination, and report their fatigue, sleep, and quality of life. The goal is to find supportive care strategies that ease treatment-related fatigue and improve daily well-being.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Prolonged overnight fasting and/or exercise
- What this could lead to
- If effective, these lifestyle programs could offer drug-free ways to reduce fatigue and improve quality of life for women with advanced breast cancer.
- What could go wrong
- The trial is early and results may not apply to all patients. Fasting or exercise may be hard to maintain and could have side effects like hunger or injury.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 260 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Sep 2024
- Expected to finish
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Sep 2029
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Female participants only
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Women 2. Able to provide written informed consent 3. Able to speak, read, and understand English or Spanish 4. Postmenopausal (including concurrent use of ovarian suppression) 5. Diagnosis of ER+ and/or PR+, hormone estrogen receptor-2 (HER-2)- or HER-2+ metastatic or locally advanced unresectable breast cancer 6. Initiation of endocrine therapy in combination with a CDK4/6 inhibitor (e.g., palbociclib, ribociclib, or abemaciclib), with or without hormone estrogen receptor-2 (HER2)-directed therapy (e.g., trastuzumab ± pertuzumab), or in combination with both a CDK4/6 inhibitor and a Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) or Protein kinase B (AKT) inhibitor, within the past 90 days. a) Participants who switch from one CDK4/6 inhibitor to another due to toxicity or insurance constraints remain eligible, provided enrollment occurs within 90 days of initiating the subsequent CDK4/6 inhibitor in the metastatic or locally advanced setting. 7. Having not consistently (not equal to or more than 50% of the time) engaged in more than 90 minutes of moderate or 45 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week over the past 3 months 8. Having not consistently engaged in resistance training 2 or more days per week over the past 3 months 9. Having not consistently (not equal to or more than 50% of the time) engaged in structured fasting (i.e., not regularly fasting for ≥12hr/night) for the past 3 months 10. Approval from a medical oncology provider to participate. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Unable to provide consent 2. Unable to read or understand English or Spanish 3. Dependent on supplemental oxygen 4. Unstable cardiac disease 5. Insulin-dependent diabetes 6. Unable to walk 2 blocks without assistance (excluding canes) 7. Regularly maintaining a shiftwork schedule, i.e. working evening shifts, night shifts, or rotating shifts in the last 3 months 8. History of a clinical eating disorder 9. Unstable bone metastases 10. More than 90 days since initiation of endocrine therapy in combination with 1) a CDK4/6 inhibitor, with or without HER2-directed therapy, or 2) a CDK 4/6 inhibitor in combination with a PI3K/AKT inhibitor, in the metastatic or locally advanced. 11. Presence of a severe medical condition or psychiatric condition or medications that would preclude participation of the study intervention.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
3 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Arizona State University
NOT_YET_RECRUITINGPhoenix, Arizona, 85004, United States
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Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
RECRUITINGBoston, Massachusetts, 02215, United States
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University of Miami
RECRUITINGMiami, Florida, 33136, United States
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- Can a platform trial match the right drug combo to each tumor?
- Can a shorter treatment hold off small HER2-Positive breast cancers?
- Can a Double-Pronged antibody outsmart HER2-Positive tumors?
- Can a Tumor-Blood-Vessel blocker boost hormone therapy for advanced breast cancer?