Trial reportNeuro-oncology2020
A pilot randomized controlled trial of exercise to improve cognitive performance in patients with stable glioma: a proof of concept.
Trial report in Neuro-oncology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 13 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 13 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 71 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of various exercise interventions on peak VOBMC cardiovascular disorders · 2026Pooled it
- Physical exercise in brain tumor patients: a systematic review.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Pooled it
- Cardiovascular training for fatigue in people with cancer.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Moderators of exercise effects on self-reported cognitive functioning in cancer survivors: an individual participant data meta-analysis.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2024Pooled it
- Alexa, let's train now! - A systematic review and classification approach to digital and home-based physical training interventions aiming to support healthy cognitive aging.Journal of sport and health science · 2024Pooled it
- Updated systematic review of the effects of exercise on understudied health outcomes in cancer survivors.Cancer medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Symptom management in adult brain tumours: A literature review.Nursing open · 2023Pooled it
- A systematic review of cognitive interventions for adult patients with brain tumours.Cancer medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Palliative care and end-of-life care in adults with malignant brain tumors.Neuro-oncology · 2023Pooled it
- Prevalence and management of sleep disturbance in adults with primary brain tumours and their caregivers: a systematic review.Journal of neuro-oncology · 2023Pooled it
- Interventions for preventing and ameliorating cognitive deficits in adults treated with cranial irradiation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Interventions for the management of fatigue in adults with a primary brain tumour.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Physical activity and exercise in adults diagnosed with primary brain cancer: a systematic review.Journal of neuro-oncology · 2021Pooled it
- Bayesian adaptive randomized trial of blended cognitive behavioral therapy for severe fatigue in stable diffuse glioma.Neuro-oncology · 2026Trial
- Effects of Exercise on Cognitive Impairment in Patients Receiving Chemotherapy: A Multicenter Phase III Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN · 2026Trial
- The effect of 12 sessions of lymphatic massage and Pilates exercise on the executive functions of breast cancer survivors.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Trial
- Effects of physical exercise during adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer on long-term tested and perceived cognition: results of a pragmatic follow-up study.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2024Trial
- Feasibility of High-Intensity Interval Exercise in Young Adult Survivors of Pediatric Brain Tumor and Young Adults With Isocitrate Dehydrogenase-Mutant Gliomas (HYPE): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Methodology of analysis of cognitive impairment in longitudinal randomized clinical trials in oncology: a scoping review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Symptom burden in young adult brain tumor survivors: Key intervention targets based on patient-reported outcome network analyses.Neuro-oncology practice · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPatients with glioma often suffer from cognitive deficits. Physical exercise has been effective in ameliorating cognitive deficits in older adults and neurological patients. This pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) explored the possible impact of an exercise intervention, designed to improve cognitive functioning in glioma patients, regarding cognitive test performance and patient-reported outcomes (PROs).
methodsThirty-four clinically stable patients with World Health Organization grades II/III glioma were randomized to a home-based remotely coached exercise group or an active control group. Patients exercised 3 times per week for 20-45 minutes, with moderate to vigorous intensity, during 6 months. At baseline and immediate follow-up, cognitive performance and PROs were assessed with neuropsychological tests and questionnaires, respectively. Linear regression analyses were used to estimate effect sizes of potential between-group differences in cognitive performance and PROs at 6 months.
resultsThe exercise group (n = 21) had small- to medium-sized better follow-up scores than the control group (n = 11) on several measures of attention and information processing speed, verbal memory, and executive function, whereas the control group showed a slightly better score on a measure of sustained selective attention. The exercise group also demonstrated small- to medium-sized better outcomes on measures of self-reported cognitive symptoms, fatigue, sleep, mood, and mental health-related quality of life.
conclusionsThis small exploratory RCT in glioma patients provides a proof of concept with respect to improvement of cognitive functioning and PROs after aerobic exercise, and warrants larger exercise trials in brain tumor patients.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.