Physical Activity as a Novel Management Approach in Myeloproliferative Neoplasms: the MPN-FIT Study

Evaluating the impact of exercise on outcomes and quality of life for patients with chronic blood cancers 

A pan-Canadian research team co-led by Dr. Natasha Szuber (Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital) and Dr. Shireen Sirhan (Jewish General Hospital) will receive $225,500 over the next year, after being selected as one of the winning project of the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network’s Patient Voices in Research Initiative.

This new funding will help the team launch a study called to MPN-FIT, the first study of its kind to investigate if exercise can be used as a tool to alleviate symptoms and improve quality of life for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN)—chronic blood cancers that significantly impact daily living.

Through a 12-week exercise regimen designed by expert kinesiologists, the team will evaluate the feasibility of integrating exercise as a symptom management tool, identify barriers to participation, and assess its effects on patient outcomes, including links to precision oncology. 

The MPN-FIT study represents a milestone in Canadian cancer care, offering new hope for patients while paving the way for larger national trials to transform how MPN and similar cancers are treated.

Read our Q&A with the research team to learn more about the project.

How would you describe your project to a lay audience?

Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) are chronic blood cancers (leukemias) that result in significant symptoms impairing quality of life for patients.  Current drug therapies for MPN are associated with toxicities and may not alleviate symptoms, exposing a critical unmet need.

While physical activity has demonstrated meaningful benefits in other cancer types, few studies have addressed this in blood cancers such as MPN. The goal of our project is to study the impact of a supervised physical activity program on symptoms, quality of life, and outcomes in Canadian patients with MPN.

To achieve its goal, this study will randomly assign patients to either an exercise program or continuation of baseline activity. A 12-week exercise program (balance/strength/aerobics training, etc), developed by expert kinesiologist will be tracked. Validated questionnaires and blood sampling will occur at defined timepoints to relay overall impact, benefits, and barriers to the program. 

What do you hope to achieve by the end of the project?

Through this project we hope to:

1. evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of an exercise program in Canadian MPN patients;
2. explore facilitators of, and barriers to carrying out the program;
3. assess effects of exercise on symptoms, quality of life, and clinical variables, linking physical activity to precision medicine.
   

This will help establish if exercise is an effective evidence-based symptom management tool while also generating solid preliminary data to plan future larger-scale national trials.

Why is this project important? How does it advance precision medicine for cancer? What potential impact could it have on patients?

This is the first Canadian study to assess feasibility and impact of physical activity on symptom burden and clinical variables in MPN, and will inform a larger-scale national trial. Ultimately, results from this project may change how we treat MPN, and have the potential to improve patient outcomes, including survival and quality of life.

On a more immediate level, we hope that this project will alleviate symptoms and improve quality of life for patient enrolled in the study. 

As the first study of its kind to evaluate benefits of an exercise program in MPN, it is a true milestone. Importantly, this work addresses a key lifestyle intervention in precision oncology and helps us understand cancer biology in increasingly prevalent diseases, with potentially broader application to other cancer types.

This funding opportunity was designed and adjudicated by members of the Network’s Patient Working Group, who are all cancer patients and survivors or caregivers and family members. Why do you think it’s important for the Network to fund this type of patient-centric research? Have you ever encountered a funding opportunity like this before? 

This is an extremely important and significant initiative. Our research group has always put patients at the heart of the work we do – they are our purpose, our raison d’être. We are delighted to see this patient-directed initiative take center stage and we praise the MOHCCN for engaging so solidly with patient partners to better meet their needs.

Patient-centered research is not only extremely valuable in optimizing research focus and relevance, but also crucially enhances the meaningfulness of outcomes. It is also the future of medical research and personalized health.

We are not aware of other such initiatives that highlight patients, caregivers, and family members as the heartbeat of scientific research. MOHCCN are trailblazers in this regard, promoting funding governed by patients for patients. We are so honoured to be recipients of this foundational grant; the fact that it is a patient-presided platform makes it even more meaningful!