World’s largest exercise trial to support children with cancer finishes recruitment

Helping children with cancer stay strong through personalised exercise.

A total of 478 young participants from across Europe have taken part in the FORTEe randomised control trial investigating the effect of physical activity when undergoing intensive cancer treatment, making it the world’s largest study in this area to date.

Cancer is the leading cause of death from non-infectious diseases among children in Europe. During treatment, young cancer patients often experience extreme fatigue and lower quality of life. While exercise programs tailored to cancer patients have shown benefits in adults, their effectiveness in children and adolescents has not yet been proven. This is where FORTEe steps in, offering a personalised exercise programme designed to help strengthen young patients in their fight against childhood cancer. It is hoped the programme will improve patient physical performance, reduce fatigue, strengthen resilience and improve quality of life.

The FORTEe project received €6.29 million in funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme to carry out a trial at 16 institutions across 8 European countries. The five year research programme is set to finish in 2026. The trial incorporates digital, innovative technologies including  augmented reality to provide more effective, age-appropriate, and personalised exercise training.

Oxford Brookes University is the sole UK university participating in the project. In addition to  recruitment of children and young people with cancer from the John Radcliffe Hospital and delivery of the intervention to these participants, the Oxford Brookes team were responsible for developing the technology behind the digital component of the exercise intervention. Working closely with the commercial partner, Pixformance, the Brookes team developed digital training tools for the hospital-based exercise programme and also created an augmented reality smartphone app to support children to be active at home.

Forty-two children and young people receiving treatment at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford have participated in the study. Oxford Brookes would like to thank them and their families for their invaluable contribution. A huge thank you also goes out to the whole team on Kamran’s Ward for their ongoing enthusiasm and support for this project.

Dr Alba Solera Sanchez, the Post-Doctoral Researcher on the FORTEe project shares her experience: “Working with the patients has been so rewarding. We would have never imagined how much our work could impact their time in the hospital.”

Hayley Marriott, who is working as a Postgraduate Researcher on the project adds: “Working with all the patients and families on Kamran’s Ward has been a real privilege. The determination and courage we see in the young patients is inspiring, and we hope that this project will help us better understand how we can improve physical activity support for all children diagnosed with cancer. Without all of our wonderful participants this project would not have been possible, so a big thank you to all of those involved.”

Professor Eila Watson, a lead UK researcher in supportive cancer care, describes the next steps for the FORTEe project: “Over the coming months, the Oxford Brookes research team will analyse the data collected to better understand how physical activity and digital health technologies can support children with cancer. We look forward to sharing updates on the study’s progress and findings with you soon.”