Personalized exercise program shows promise for reducing fatigue in children with cancer
NCT ID NCT05289739
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tested whether a personalized exercise program could help children and teens undergoing cancer treatment feel less tired and improve their quality of life. Nearly 500 participants did age-appropriate exercises like strength, balance, and endurance training for 30–60 minutes, 3–5 times a week for about 8–10 weeks. The main goal was to see if fatigue scores improved during and after the program, with follow-up lasting one year.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- personalized exercise training (endurance, strength, flexibility, balance, coordination, and gait training)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could provide a safe, drug-free way to help children feel less tired and have a better quality of life during cancer treatment.
- What could go wrong
- This is a completed study, but exercise may be hard for very sick children, and benefits might vary widely. The results may not apply to all types of childhood cancer.
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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478 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Apr 2022
- Finished
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Jan 2026
- 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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4 to 21 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- 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: * First/initial diagnosis of a primary oncologic disease according to the International Classification of Childhood Cancer (ICCC), requiring chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy or First/initial diagnosis of a relapsed oncologic disease according to the International Classification of Childhood Cancer (ICCC), requiring chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy or First/initial diagnosis of a secondary oncologic disease according to the International Classification of Childhood Cancer (ICCC), requiring chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy * Planned or started anti-cancer treatment (chemo- and/or radiotherapy) at one of the recruiting centres of the FORTEe trial * The patient is assessed by the treating team (pediatric oncologist, exercise professional etc.) as suitable to participate in the trial, e.g. due to medical or psychological reasons. * Existing informed consent (or assent) to participate in the study * The patient (and the legal guardian) has/have sufficient knowledge of the respective national or English language so that it is possible to carry out the informed consent as well as interviews (in age-appropriate language). * The patient is not in a terminal phase of the disease. Exclusion criteria: * Oncologic disease (primary/relapsed/secondary) according to the International Classification of Childhood Cancer (ICCC), requiring neither chemotherapy nor radiation therapy or solely requiring surgery * Reasons that already exist or are foreseeable at the time of study enrolment, due to which the patient will not have access to the exercise intervention and/or to the pre-test and/or to the post-test (e.g. foreseeable or planned, permanent change of treatment centre) * The patient is assessed by the treating team (pediatric oncologist, exercise professional etc.) as unsuitable to participate in the trial, e.g. due to medical or psychological reasons. * After detailed information and, if necessary, having time to consider, the patient (≥ 16 years of age) did not agree to give written informed consent to participate in the trial. * The patient (and the legal guardians) has/have insufficient knowledge of the respective national or English language, so that it is not possible to carry out both the informed consent and interviews (in age-appropriate language). * The patient is in a terminal phase of the disease
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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.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Johannes-Gutenberg-University Medical Center
Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, 55131, Germany
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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