Cardiorespiratory Fitness And Muscle Strength In Pancreatic Cancer Patients: 2133 Board #146 June 1 2

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth most common cause for cancer death. Despite progress in diagnosis and therapies in recent years, the 5-year survival rate of all stages is still only 6%. Exercise-related research in this patient group is widely missing. PURPOSE: It is well known, that cancer patients frequently experience reduced physical fitness due to the disease itself as well as treatment-related side effects. However, studies on physical fitness in pancreatic cancer patients are missing. Therefore, we assessed cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength in this patient group. METHODS: Sixty-five pancreatic cancer patients, mostly after surgical resection, were included in this study. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed using cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and 6-minute walk test (6MWT). Hand-held-dynamometry was used to evaluate isometric muscle strength. Physical fitness values were compared to reference values from a healthy population. Associations between sociodemographic and clinical variables with patients’ physical fitness were analyzed with multiple regression models. RESULTS: Cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2peak, 20.5 ±6.9 ml/min/kg) was significantly lower (-24%) compared to healthy reference values. In the 6MWT pancreatic cancer patients nearly reached predicted values (555 vs. 562 meters). Maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) of the upper (- 4.3%) and lower extremities (-13.8%) were significantly lower compared to reference values. Overall differences were larger in men than in women. Participating in regular exercise in the year before diagnosis was associated with greater VO2peak (p