Summary:

Reduced strength and stamina are common after a bone marrow/stem cell transplant or CAR Tcell therapy. Using a model developed for astronauts, it is now possible to measure fitness before treatment, and prescribe an exercise program that can help reduce the decline in fitness after transplant or CAR T therapy.

Presenter: Jessica Scott PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

To read this transcript, go to:
https://bmtinfonet.org/video/astronau...

Highlights:

(04:04): NASA identified several risk factors for side effects astronauts experience during and after space travel: astronauts’ lifestyle and baseline health before the flight such as smoking, being overweight, high blood pressure and high cholesterol; exposure to microgravity and radiation during the space flight; and, most significant, inactivity during the flight.

(07:54): Some of the side effects found in astronauts after space flight were “brain fog”, changes in white and red blood cell counts and decreased heart and muscle size.

(10:13): After the Gemini space mission, astronauts lost 25% of their fitness, which is equal to almost two decades of aging, in just two weeks. On subsequent missions, they found that exercise 30minutes per day could reduce the loss of fitness.

(14:31): Cancer patients experience similar loss of fitness after treatment as that experienced by astronauts.

(17:23): A study of bone marrow transplant patients found that 25% had a decline in fitness six weeks after treatment.

(19:33): A study at Memorial Sloan Kettering found that three hours of exercise/week reduced the risk of developing a blood cancer by 6%, and the risk of death in blood cancer patients by 26%.

(22:37): It’s never too late to start and gain the benefits of exercise training.

(24:47): Before starting an exercise program, get medical clearance from your doctor.

(26:42): To determine the amount, type and frequency of exercise you should start doing, assess how many steps you currently take each day, and begin gradually increasing that, a little longer each day.

(31:50): It’s best to alternate days of low intensity exercise with days of high intensity exercise to allow your bold to rest and recover.

April 2024, Part of the Virtual Celebrating a Second Chance at life Survivorship Symposium 2024

Presentation is 34 minutes long followed by 14 minutes of Q&A

Key Points:

Cancer patients experience loss of fitness after treatment similar to the loss astronauts experience during space flights.
Exercise training before, during and after a bone marrow/stem cell transplant can reduce the loss of fitness.
Before beginning a new exercise program, get medical clearance from your doctor, measure your current activity – the steps you take daily – and gradually increase your activity each day.

Meet the speaker:
https://www.mskcc.org/researchareas/...

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