Development of Educational Print Materials for Physical Activity in Cancer: Evaluation of Readability and Suitability

AbstractEducational health materials may be important tools to increase physical activity in cancer patients. Nevertheless, most of the available resources regarding physical activity for cancer patients were found not suitable, had a low grade of readability, and thus, represent a significant barrier to behavior change. To date, little data about development criteria and evaluation of physical activity resources for cancer before their spread exist. The purposes of this study were (i) to describe the development of a physical activity guidebook designed for cancer patients and (ii) to test its readability and suitability. The guidebook was developed through multi-step passages, including group discussions, a literature review, identification of a motivational theory, and using previous research on exercise preferences, barriers, and facilitators to target the information. Two validated formulae were used to assess the readability, whereas thirty-four judges completed the Suitability of Assessment Materials questionnaire to evaluate the suitability of the guidebook. The guidebook was found readable for patients having at least a primary education, and the judges scored it as “superior” material. Our guidebook, following a rigorous method in the development phase, was considered to be suitable and readable. Further evaluations through clinical trials could investigate its effectiveness for behavior change and its impact on cancer patients.

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A Theory-based Mobile Health Physical Activity Intervention for Breast Cancer Patients during Chemotherapy:a Preliminary Evaluation (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.22858 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Zhaohui Geng ◽

Li Ning ◽

Lingzhi Cai ◽

Ying Liu ◽

Jingting Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Physical Activity ◽

Behavior Change ◽

Health Behaviors ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Mobile Health ◽

Protective Factor ◽

Smartphone Application ◽

Preliminary Evaluation ◽

Breast Cancer Patients

BACKGROUND Physical activity (PA), known as a modifiable protective factor, provides an approach to sustain physical and psycho-social health for breast cancer patients both during and after treatment. Mobile health (mHealth) application targeted promoting health behaviors demonstrates advantages in behavior tracking, knowledge sharing and social connecting and tailored intervention. However, process of mHealth application (App) development is lack of theoretical basis, restricting its sustainable benefits to cancer survivors. OBJECTIVE To construct a theory-based mHealth PA intervention program, and to determine whether this intervention would improve PA behavior change during chemotherapy for breast cancer patients, thus to capture their perspectives and experiences when participate it. METHODS Social cognitive theory (SCT), self-efficacy theory (SET) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) are referred to construct mHealth intervention strategies. Smartphone application was chosen to implement a pre-post three-month PA intervention. A mixed method was utilized to test the preliminary effectiveness of MPAP. Quantitative results from online records and self-reported questionnaires were collected after intervention. Qualitative feedback through telephone interviewing was recorded to explore patients’ using experiences. RESULTS “Breast care” smartphone application was developed to improve self-management of breast cancer patients including PA. In the end, five main pages covering 6 functions (information delivering, disease tracking, events reminding based on calendar, online interaction, health behavior recording and self-reported assessment) were displayed in the app. In the preliminary evaluation process, twenty participants were recruited. Based on PA capability assessment and baseline PA evaluation, 12 patients were divided into active group, and 8 patients were grouped in sedentary lifestyle. Within three months, participants’ usage behavior identified at portal site indicated the accumulated app usage time is 40 minutes a week, and average login time of each participant was three times a week. The total PA increased 945.70 MET-min/w with a significant improvement(p=0.040) after 3 months. Walking displayed a significant improvement after intervention (904.20 MET-min/w) (p=0.030). Sedentary mean time declined 210 mins/w. Qualitative results showed satisfaction and willingness of breast cancer patients to use app to manage PA and relevant health behaviors. CONCLUSIONS The theory-based mHealth PA intervention has great potential to enhance breast cancer patients’ PA awareness and engagement, meanwhile to facilitate their PA behavior change.

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Another Weapon against Cancer and Metastasis: Physical-Activity-Dependent Effects on Adiposity and Adipokines

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms22042005 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (4) ◽

pp. 2005

Author(s):

Silvia Perego ◽

Veronica Sansoni ◽

Ewa Ziemann ◽

Giovanni Lombardi

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Tumor Development ◽

Overweight And Obesity ◽

Moderate Intensity ◽

Elderly Subjects ◽

Low Grade ◽

Physically Active ◽

Active Behavior ◽

Psychological Conditions

Physically active behavior has been associated with a reduced risk of developing certain types of cancer and improved psychological conditions for patients by reducing anxiety and depression, in turn improving the quality of life of cancer patients. On the other hand, the correlations between inactivity, sedentary behavior, and overweight and obesity with the risk of development and progression of various cancers are well studied, mainly in middle-aged and elderly subjects. In this article, we have revised the evidence on the effects of physical activity on the expression and release of the adipose-tissue-derived mediators of low-grade chronic inflammation, i.e., adipokines, as well as the adipokine-mediated impacts of physical activity on tumor development, growth, and metastasis. Importantly, exercise training may be effective in mitigating the side effects related to anti-cancer treatment, thereby underlining the importance of encouraging cancer patients to engage in moderate-intensity activities. However, the strong need to customize and adapt exercises to a patient’s abilities is apparent. Besides the preventive effects of physically active behavior against the adipokine-stimulated cancer risk, it remains poorly understood how physical activity, through its actions as an adipokine, can actually influence the onset and development of metastases.

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p65BTK Is a Novel Biomarker and Therapeutic Target in Solid Tumors

Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology ◽

10.3389/fcell.2021.690365 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Emanuela Grassilli ◽

Maria Grazia Cerrito ◽

Sara Bonomo ◽

Roberto Giovannoni ◽

Donatella Conconi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ovarian Cancer ◽

Colon Cancer ◽

Clinical Trials ◽

Targeted Therapy ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Solid Tumors ◽

Low Grade ◽

Tumor Type ◽

Drug Resistant ◽

Btk Inhibitors

Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) is a non-receptor intracellular kinase playing a key role in the proliferation and survival of normal and malignant B-lymphocytes. Its targeting by Ibrutinib, the first specific inhibitor, represented a turning point for the therapy of certain types of B-cell leukemias/lymphomas and several more BTK inhibitors are today in the clinic or advanced clinical trials. BTK expression was successively found to occur also outside of the hematopoietic compartment. In fact, we identified p65BTK, a novel 65 kDa isoform lacking an N-term stretch of 86 amino acids (compared to the 77 kDa protein expressed in B cells) as highly expressed in colon cancer patients. We demonstrated that p65BTK is a powerful oncogene acting downstream of the RAS/MAPK pathway and necessary for RAS-mediated transformation. Notably, the kinase domain is conserved and therefore inhibited by the available BTK-targeting drugs (Ibrutinib, Spebrutinib, etc.) which we used to demonstrate that p65BTK is an actionable target in drug-resistant colorectal carcinomas. We found p65BTK expressed also in >50% non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) and demonstrated that it is an actionable target in KRAS-mutated/EGFR-wild type drug-resistant NSCLC models (for which no targeted therapy is available). We also reported a significant correlation between p65BTK expression and low-grade tumors and overall survival of patients with grade III gliomas and showed that its targeting induced a significant decrease in the viability of in glioma stem cells. Finally, in ovarian cancer patients, p65BTK expression levels correlate with early relapse and shorter progression-free survival, both indicators of resistance to therapy. Remarkably, Ibrutinib is more effective than standard of care (SOC) therapeutics in in vitro and ex vivo settings. On the whole, our preclinical data indicate that, depending on the tumor type, BTK inhibitors used alone can induce cytotoxicity (gliomas), be more effective than SOC chemotherapy (ovarian cancer) or can kill drug-resistant tumor cells when used in combination with SOC chemotherapy (colon cancer and NSCLC) or targeted therapy (NSCLC and ovarian cancer), thus suggesting that p65BTK may be an actionable target in different solid tumors. In addition, our data also give the proof-of-concept for starting clinical trials using BTK inhibitors, alone or in combination, to improve the therapeutic options for solid tumors treatment.

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ROUTINE: The Development of a Physical Activity Promoting Journey Planner Web App

Social Sciences ◽

10.3390/socsci8030082 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 82

Author(s):

Elisabeth Füssl ◽

Johannes Jaunig ◽

Sylvia Titze

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Behavior Change ◽

Public Transport ◽

Methodological Approach ◽

Physical Activity Behavior ◽

Group Discussions ◽

Daily Routines ◽

Activity Behavior ◽

Web App ◽

Behavior Change Theories

Behavior change apps are widespread, but the scientific base of the app-concept is rarely disclosed. The aim of this article is to present the methodological approach used for the development of a so-called “fitness feedback demonstrator” within an already existing journey planner web app to motivate people to increase their physical activity behavior while using public transport. Firstly, we introduce the behavior change theories applied for the design of the feedback, followed by the analysis of focus-group discussions about the desired content of the fitness feedback. Secondly, we describe how we conducted a field test to measure the number of steps taken when using public transport. Finally, we used the feedback from potential users in terms of design/attractiveness and comprehensibility of the added fitness information. The “fitness feedback demonstrator” is a good practical example of how to make use of the different research expertise to develop a theory-based tool to encourage persons to integrate physical activity into their daily routines.

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