Concurrent Training and Nutritional Management in Cancer

Cancer causes important public health problems around the world and it is one of the most frequent cause of death overall. Among non-pharmacological treatment, physical exercise has shown improvements in different types of cancer and patients, but it is important to define the optimal dose. Our aim is to determine the effects of a concurrent training program and a nutritional management developed during radiotherapy treatment on physical performance and body composition. A patient with an oral cavity cancer will develop three sessions per week of concurrent training: resistance training included 9 standard exercises involving major muscle groups (4x8-12 RM), and cardiovascular training included a High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Nutritional management will include a diet controlling macronutrients (~4g/kg/day for carbohidrates, ~2g/kg/day for proteins, and ~1g/kg/day for fats), along with some nutritional supplements such as beta-hydroxybeta-methylbutyrate (HMB), arginine, glutamine, omega-3 fish oil concentrate, and BCAA's during training sessions. Intervention took place during radiotherapy period (7 weeks). We expect that body composition will remain invariable, and 1RM will increased. VO2max is expected to be almost the same, but intensity tolerated at maximum VO2max could be higher. If our results confirm that, we could conclude that a combination between resistance exercise and HIIT along with a nutritional management developed during radiotherapy could be effective to prevent muscle mass loss and muscle function decrease in a young patient with oral cavity cancer.

This is a case control study