Follow up study on the effect of a pre- and post-operative exercise programme versus standard care on physical fitness of patients with oesophageal and gastric cancer undergoing neoadjuvant treatment prior to surgery (The PERIOP-OG Trial)

My summer intern project will involve working on the PERIOP-OG trial which is a cancer prehabiliation study in patients with oesophageal and gastric cancer also known as cancer of the windpipe and stomach.

There have been great improvements in treatments for people with these cancers however they can have a negative effect on physical and mental wellbeing for example reduced fitness levels and quality of life. Therefore, the aim of the PERIOP-OG trial was to see if people with this cancer would benefit from taking part in an exercise prehabiliation programme from the point of cancer diagnosis up to the time of surgery compared to people who did not take part in the programme.

This trial was completed between 2019 and 2021 and showed that the exercise programme greatly improved fitness for surgery compared to the group of  people who did not take part. As part of this research, all participants were asked to take part in interviews before and after surgery to understand the lived experience of people with this cancer. Approximately 60 interviews were completed during the study.

My summer scholarship project will specifically involve looking at these interviews in more detail with Dr. Lisa Loughney. A cancer diagnosis can affect the emotional health of people with cancer, and we believe that we can learn a lot from these interviews which will help us learn more about the needs of people with these cancers.