Clinical trial · Interventional
Effect of Cognitively Challenging Physical Activity on Executive Functions in Pediatric Cancer Patients
An Investigator Initiated, Non-randomized Controlled Trial on the Effect of Cognitively Challenging Physical Activity on Executive Functions in Paediatric Cancer Patients
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
When it comes to exercise and sport for children and adolescents with cancer, there is often still the opinion that physical activity has a negative effect on the weakened body suffering from cancer. Many studies show that the opposite is the case: physical activity for children and adolescents with cancer do not jeopardise the success of treatment, but rather promote it. It has been shown that physical activity has a positive effect on motor skills, physical fitness, sleep quality, fatigue symptoms, body image and general quality of life in children and adolescents with cancer. In addition, physical activity leads to an improved fat-to-muscle ratio, metabolic status, bone strength and reduces cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, various studies show that oncological patients with sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass) and frailty have a poorer response to their cancer therapy. This broad spectrum of effects of physical activity leads to improved and faster rehabilitation, is directly linked to the success of treatment and has led to exercise being an integral part of treatment in many paediatric oncology centres worldwide. Furthermore, more exercise that includes playful cognitive tasks is expected to lead to improved attention, memory and academic achievement. Besides, it is important to try to get children to exercise at home outside of the inpatient setting. Hybrid (on-site and digital meetings) programmes also work for children and adolescents. Additionally, the research project offers sports counselling after the end of therapy to reintegrate the patients into everyday sporting life, be it in a club or at school. The central question of the research project is: Does cognitive challenging physical activity developed for children and adolescents undergoing acute cancer therapy improve cognitive and motor performance compared to a control group receiving standard care?
Conditions
Conditions (4)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer-related Problem/Condition | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Childhood Cancer | Childhood Malignant Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Cognitive Side Effects of Cancer Therapy | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Physical Activity | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (2)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cognitively challenging physical activity for paediatric cancer patients | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Physical activity recommendations | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- OTHER
- label
- Control Intervention
- description
- Participants have access to standard care as usual and receive physical activity recommendations.
- interventionNames
- Other: Physical activity recommendations
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Intervention
- description
- The intervention is a cognitively challenging physical activity (PA) intervention for children and adolescents with cancer undergoing acute therapy. The intervention is based on the "S2k Guideline: Promotion of Exercise and Exercise Therapy in Paediatric Oncology" and the international Paediatric Oncology Exercise Guidelines. And on study results and experience from previous cognitive challenging PA intervention studies.
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Cognitively challenging physical activity for paediatric cancer patients
Primary outcomes (12)
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 6 Years
- Maximum age
- 17 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Written informed consent of parents / legal guardian and participants, where applicable * Diagnosis of any type of cancer requiring chemo- and/or radiotherapy, or CNS surgery, expected to last a minimum of at least 6 weeks at the time of recruitment * Age: 6-17.99 years at time of recruitment Exclusion Criteria: * Cognitive and physical disabilities that prevent participation in the intervention. * Inability to follow the procedures of the study, e.g. due to language problems. * Enrolment of the investigator, his/her family members, employees and other dependent persons. * Denied written informed consent from participants.
References
Publications (1)
- DERIVEDSchneider AC, Hillebrecht L, Rehbein L, Schmid J, Pallivathukal S, von der Weid N, Furtwangler R, Brekenfeld RE, Greiner J, Schindera C, Brack EK, Benzing V. Smart exercise in pediatric oncology: enhancing executive functions through cognitively challenging physical activity- a non-randomized controlled trial. BMC Cancer. 2025 Dec 5;26(1):75. doi: 10.1186/s12885-025-15303-5. PMID 41351152