Pedal power: could a bike ride supercharge Cancer-Fighting cells?
NCT ID NCT06643221
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This early-stage study explores whether exercise can improve the quality of immune cells collected from healthy donors for blood cancer treatments. Researchers will have healthy volunteers cycle, take a beta blocker or placebo, or receive a drug that mimics adrenaline, then analyze their blood cells in the lab and in mice. The goal is to see if exercise-induced changes make cell therapies more effective and reduce harmful side effects like graft-versus-host disease.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- exercise and isoproterenol
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could point toward a simple way to collect better immune cells from donors, potentially making cell therapies for blood cancer more effective and reducing side effects like graft-versus-host disease.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very early, small study in healthy volunteers, not patients. It only tests lab and animal effects, so it may not translate to real patient benefits. The drug isoproterenol can cause heart-related side effects.
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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Early phase 1
The earliest testing in people: a first look at safety, in a very small group.
- Participants
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About 200 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jan 2018
- Expected to finish
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May 2031
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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21 to 55 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
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.
Procedures are in place for protecting against or minimizing the risks to the healthy volunteers recruited for this study. Physical risk to volunteers and matched related donors will be protected through health screening to determine study eligibility, and medical monitoring with an established test termination criterion during the exercise and isoproterenol infusion trials. To protect against the remote risk of an adverse cardiac event occurring during exercise and isoproterenol infusion, the study will only enroll volunteers who are considered "low risk" for maximal stress testing in accordance with the guidelines published by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and American Heart Association (AHA). Individuals who are considered "low risk" are men and women who are asymptomatic and have no more than one risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The risks to subjects are therefore extremely low. All infusions will take place in the Clinical and Translational Sciences Research Center (CATS) Infusion Suite, which is a designated University of Arizona campus facility for infusion trials and equipped with appropriate medical personnel and monitoring equipment (i.e. ECG). The graded exercise tests and isoproterenol infusions procedures will be performed under the direction of a licensed and board-certified cardiologist Inclusion Criteria: Participants must: * Be between 21 and 55 years of age. * Be classified as 'low-risk' for graded exercise/stress testing according to ACSM-AHA criteria. * Have no contraindications for the use of isoproterenol, carvedilol, bisoprolol, nadolol, or roflumilast as per FDA guidelines. Exclusion Criteria: Participants will be excluded if they: * Currently use tobacco products or have quit within the last 6 months. * Have a body mass index (BMI) greater than 34 kg/m² or waist circumference exceeding 102 cm for men and 88 cm for women. * Use any medications known to affect the immune system or regularly take ibuprofen/aspirin, antidepressants, or medications that alter blood pressure or cardiovascular function. * Use of hormone replacement therapy. * Are pregnant or breastfeeding. * Have chronic or debilitating arthritis or have been bedridden in the past three months. * Experienced a common illness (e.g., colds) within the past 6 weeks. * Have central or peripheral nervous disorders, a history of stroke, or major affective disorder. * Are infected with HIV or hepatitis or have any autoimmune disease. * Have known cardiovascular disease or contraindications for the use of isoproterenol, carvedilol, bisoprolol, nadolol, or roflumilast. * Use any prescription medications or have an allergy to beta-blockers. * Have a resting heart rate of less than 50 beats per minute. * Suffer from asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, kidney disease, pheochromocytoma, diabetes, overactive thyroid, or a history of severe anaphylactic reactions. * Are scheduled for surgery. Additionally, participants who meet the inclusion criteria but present with more than one of the following cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors will be excluded unless cleared by a cardiologist: * Family History: Myocardial infarction, coronary revascularization, or sudden death before 55 years of age in a father or male first-degree relative, or before 65 years of age in a mother or female first-degree relative. * Hypertension: Systolic blood pressure greater than 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure greater than 90 mmHg. * Dyslipidemia: Total serum cholesterol exceeding 200 mg/dl. * Pre-diabetes: Fasting blood glucose levels between 100 mg/dl and 126 mg/dl.
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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
1 site. 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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The University of Arizona
RECRUITINGTucson, Arizona, 85719, United States
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