Evidence Explorer · MS-N245 · Exercise and rehabilitation · strength, walking capacity and fatigue · Appraised November 5, 2026
An eight-week randomized study in adolescents after maintenance chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia reported larger strength, muscle-thickness, walking-capacity and fatigue improvements with adaptive variable-resistance training than standard exercise. Safety reporting was limited in the accessible abstract.
Evidence at a glance
- Benefit signal: Short-term improvements in quadriceps strength, muscle thickness, six-minute-walk performance and fatigue.
- Certainty: Low. The study was small, short and used an active exercise comparator rather than usual care.
- Risk context: Bone health, neuropathy, steroid effects, deconditioning and late cardiac effects need consideration; adverse events were not reported in the accessible abstract.
- Cancer-control relevance: No evidence about relapse, treatment response or survival.
What was studied
Sixty-two adolescents aged 12 to 18 years who had completed maintenance chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia were randomized to adaptive variable-resistance training (31) or standard exercise (31) for eight weeks.
Outcomes included quadriceps muscle thickness and torque, six-minute-walk distance and fatigue.
What the study found
The adaptive-training group showed larger improvements in thigh and quadriceps muscle measures. Reported between-group effects included fatigue (p=0.031; partial eta-squared 0.08) and six-minute-walk distance (p<0.001; partial eta-squared 0.25).
Absolute changes and confidence intervals were not available in the abstract, so the clinical importance of each change cannot be fully assessed.
What this does not establish
The findings cannot establish durability, school participation, injury risk or superiority to no exercise. They also do not apply automatically during active intensive chemotherapy or to younger children.
Safety and practical context
A pediatric oncology or rehabilitation team should review bone pain, avascular-necrosis risk, neuropathy, central-line status and cardiac history before progressive loading.
Adverse events were not reported in the accessible abstract; absence of a report is not evidence that none occurred.
Questions for the care team
- Is there any bone, joint, nerve or cardiac reason to modify resistance loading?
- How will technique and progression be supervised?
- Which functional goals matter at home, school or sport?
Sources and identifiers
Funding and conflicts: Not reported in the accessible abstract and not independently verified.
Source access and dates: Abstract-level appraisal; full intervention, missing-data and safety details were not verified. Sources checked November 5, 2026. Last literature search November 5, 2026.
Educational evidence summary, not individualized medical advice. Exercise around cancer treatment should be adapted to symptoms, blood counts, bone health, cardiopulmonary status, surgical restrictions and the treating team’s guidance.
