Trimodal Prehabilitation in Pancreatic Cancer Patients Candidate to Neoadjuvant Treatment: A Pilot Study

Pancreatic cancer is a disease with a very poor prognosis and less than 10% of these patients live beyond 5 years from diagnosis. Further, it is expected to become the second leading cause of death in the coming years. Today, surgery remains the cornerstone in curing this disease, but the addition of chemotherapy is needed to improve survival. The impact of adjuvant treatment has been previously demonstrated and its efficacy is absolute. However, neoadjuvant chemotherapy (pre-surgery) improves the results after surgery (achieving earlier stages and with better prognosis) and would lead to better survival results. Besides, the moment of cancer diagnosis is a moment of special receptivity to change lifestyles ("teachable moment").

Multimodal prehabilitation includes 1) physical exercise; 2) nutritional and 3) psychological support. The potential advantages of prehabilitation during neoadjuvant therapy would be 1) the possibility of achieving a better physical condition to face surgery; 2) fewer postoperative complications; 3) more likely to receive adjuvant treatment after surgery; 4) better physical function at the end of treatments. To date, most studies have focused on lung and prostate cancer, with a high prevalence of men in the series.

This strategy has previously been explored, showing that it is safe and feasible, (Loughney et al). We have not identified any study of trimodal prehabilitation during neoadjuvant treatment and none that has integrated motivational strategies to maintain adherence.

Patients during chemotherapy have perceived several adverse effects that could limit adherence to the program. In this regard, a review on the motivation and exercise in cancer survivors shows that it is necessary to apply theoretical frameworks to understand cognitive and motivational processes and develop educational interventions. The self-determination theory is one of the motivational theories most applied today to the analysis of factors related to the adoption of healthy lifestyles. Likewise, patients who are motivated are more likely to improve healthy habits and obtain greater adherence to exercise performance. Therefore, we aimed of carrying out an intervention (pilot study) in ten patients to describe the feasibility of a trimodal prehabilitation program in the hospital environment, applying motivational strategies and a mixed-method (face-to-face and online).