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NCT03345563 · REGISTRY CONDITION SEARCH

Project HERO: Health Empowerment & Recovery Outcomes

Found through the registry condition index, not selected as a treatment recommendation. This discovery collection was restricted to studies with posted results.

Phase
NA
Status at capture
COMPLETED
Registry last update
2026-07-07

Project HERO is a 12-week study of the efficacy of Body Mind Training (BMT, i.e. Tai Chi and Qigong in this project) for reducing fatigue in male cancer survivors. This 3-arm randomized clinical trial will examine inflammatory biology and selected gene-expression pathways that are hypothesized to contribute to the intervention's effect.

Open the original ClinicalTrials.gov record → · Download preserved record

What did the study report?

Outcomes, safety and baseline populations are separate source sections. Quality-of-life measures appear under their original outcome titles.

flow

Participant flow

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baseline

Baseline characteristics

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outcome · POSTED

Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-Fatigue) Scale

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outcome · POSTED

Change in Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-Fatigue) Scale

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adverse events

Adverse events

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more info

Limitations, agreements, and source contact

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Who could take part
eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Age ≥ 55 years * Previous diagnosis of local, regional, or metastatic cancer. If treated for cancer, prostate cancer therapy completed, 3+ months. If on ADT/ hormone manipulation, must be for 4 or more months * Previous diagnosis of small intestine, thyroid, oral, non-muscle invasive bladder, kidney/renal, lung, colon, rectum, soft tissue, or other cancer * Meet study criteria for fatigue: Medical Health Outcome Study Short Form Vitality/Fatigue subscale (SF-36 Vitality scale-4 items; 5 Likert scale) using a fatigue cut-off value of ≤13; or the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Fatigue scale (PROMIS Fatigue scale) using a cut-off value of ≥9 * Live within 75 miles of New Brunswick or Newark * Inactive (\<150 minutes of vigorous exercise/week within the past 3 months) * Has transportation to attend on-site classes and assessments Exclusion Criteria: * Patient Health Questionnaire PHQ-9 Score \>12 * Indication of suicidality from PHQ-9 reports that he has several or more days of "thoughts that you would be better off dead, or of hurting yourself." * Karnofsky performance status score of 50 or below * Current regular practice within the past year (2-3 times a week over a period of two months that is not interrupted) of BMT or other complementary and alternative medicine that shares similar principles of BMT. * Inability to speak and read English proficiently * Unable to understand informed consent * Current health conditions that may interfere with the intervention: respiratory, cardiovascular, or neurological problems unless released by a physician * Medical conditions or activities that can cause severe fatigue: Severe hearing loss that would cause difficulty following an instructor in a group setting, chronic fatigue syndrome, current major depression, alcohol use disorder, shift work * Prostate cancer that has metastasized to the liver, brain, or lungs * Currently receiving chemotherapy with VePesid, Cytoxan, Enzalutamide (XTANDI®), intravenous chemotherapy or radionucleotides (Strontium-89, Samarium (Quadramet®), Radium-223 (Xofigo®)), or other therapy (as confirmed by study team) * Unwilling to be randomized to study arms and/or commit to 12 weeks of classes and assessments * Have had a diagnosis of another cancer, unless: * Non-melanoma skin cancer or * Completed treatment AND cancer-free for 5 or more years. We will not include any of the following special populations: * Adults unable to consent * Individuals who are not yet adults (infants, children, teenagers) * Pregnant women * Prisoners
healthy Volunteers
false
minimum Age
55 Years
sex
MALE
std Ages
  1. ADULT
  2. OLDER_ADULT
Treatment arms and interventions
arm Groups
  1. description
    Body mind training
    intervention Names
    1. Behavioral: Body Mind Training (BMT)
    label
    Body Mind Training (BMT)
    type
    EXPERIMENTAL
  2. description
    Body training only
    intervention Names
    1. Behavioral: Body Training (BT):
    label
    Body Training (BT)
    type
    ACTIVE_COMPARATOR
  3. description
    Control
    intervention Names
    1. Behavioral: Usual Care (UC)
    label
    Usual care (UC):
    type
    OTHER
interventions
  1. arm Group Labels
    1. Body Mind Training (BMT)
    description
    Participants will practice BMT under the instruction of a BMT instructor. There will be 24 sessions. Each session will last 60 minutes and will occur twice a week for 12 weeks. Each session will include both light physical exercise and mind training. Sessions will be supplemented with home-based practice using an instructional DVD and handouts. Participants will be instructed to practice at least 30 minutes a day (at least 3 days per week) throughout the intervention and post-intervention period.
    name
    Body Mind Training (BMT)
    type
    BEHAVIORAL
  2. arm Group Labels
    1. Body Training (BT)
    description
    Participants will practice BT under the instruction of a BT instructor. There will be 24 sessions. Each session will last 60 minutes and will occur twice a week for 12 weeks. Sessions will be supplemented with home-based practice using an instructional DVD and handouts. Participants will be instructed to practice at least 30 minutes a day (at least 3 days per week) throughout the intervention and post-intervention period.
    name
    Body Training (BT):
    type
    BEHAVIORAL
  3. arm Group Labels
    1. Usual care (UC):
    description
    Participants in the usual care arm will receive care as normal and will not attend classes but will complete the same assessments as participants in the BMT and BT classes.
    name
    Usual Care (UC)
    type
    BEHAVIORAL
Study design
allocation
RANDOMIZED
intervention Model
PARALLEL
intervention Model Description
After obtaining informed consent and baseline assessments, cancer survivors aged 55 years and older with some level of fatigue will be randomized to the BMT arm or intensity-matched Body Training (BT), or Usual Care (UC) arms. Patient-reported assessments (surveys) will occur at baseline (within 2-weeks pre- intervention), mid-intervention (6 weeks), 1-week post-intervention (13 weeks), and at 3 months and 12 months post-intervention. Phlebotomy is done at baseline, 1 week post intervention (13 weeks), and 3 months and 12 months post intervention. Dietary assessments are done at baseline, and week 13 (1 week post intervention), 3 months and 1 year post-intervention. Physical activity is assessed weekly throughout the intervention. Sleep diaries are collected at all time points.
masking Info
masking
DOUBLE
masking Description
Participants will be instructed not to discuss their arm assignment with study personnel during their assessments. We avoided the use of the terms Tai Chi and Qigong for participant recruitment, patient-faced materials, and intervention implementation. Questionnaires will be self-administered, administered in person or by telephone based on participant need and preference. Some investigators, the data manager, biostatisticians, biometric testing and lab technicians will be blinded to intervention allocation. The technicians who analyze biospecimens will be blinded to all other data.
who Masked
  1. CARE_PROVIDER
  2. OUTCOMES_ASSESSOR
primary Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Enrollment
count
113
type
ACTUAL
Registered outcome plans (not posted results)
primary Outcomes
  1. description
    13-item self-report scale assessing fatigue and its impact on daily activities during the past 7 days; higher scores indicate less fatigue (range 0-52).
    measure
    Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-Fatigue) Scale
    time Frame
    Baseline, 6 weeks, 1 week post-intervention, 3 months, 12 months post-intervention
  2. description
    13-item self-report scale assessing fatigue and its impact on daily activities during the past 7 days; higher scores indicate less fatigue (range 0-52). Mean difference between Baseline and timepoint.
    measure
    Change in Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-Fatigue) Scale
    time Frame
    Baseline, 6 weeks, 1 week post-intervention, 3 months, 12 months post-intervention
Full study description
brief Summary
Project HERO is a 12-week study of the efficacy of Body Mind Training (BMT, i.e. Tai Chi and Qigong in this project) for reducing fatigue in male cancer survivors. This 3-arm randomized clinical trial will examine inflammatory biology and selected gene-expression pathways that are hypothesized to contribute to the intervention's effect.
detailed Description
This study will establish the efficacy of a 12-week Body Mind Training (BMT) for reductions in fatigue (the study's primary outcome). Secondary patient-reported outcomes include quality of life changes (e.g., changes in sleep and perceived psychological distress), changes in the biomarkers of inflammation, including genome-wide transcriptional factors, and expression of fatigue-related genes. Post-award, the target sample size was revised to (n=166) with NCI permission. There are over 9 million cancer survivors who are 55 years of age or older. Cancer survivors in this age group have unique challenges coping with the late and long-term effects of having had a cancer diagnosis and treatment, coupled with age-related declines and comorbidities. This may influence their ability to engage in lifestyle interventions because of slower post-treatment recovery, increased functional limitations, and other quality of life (QOL) impairments. Fatigue is common, under-recognized, undertreated, and correlated with impairments in psychological distress, social and functional well-being, and health-related QOL in cancer survivors. For male cancer survivors suffering from fatigue, Tai Chi and Qigong (TCQ) may be more appealing because it is not overly physically exertive and is safe for people 55 years of age or older. In this study, we referred to the intervention groups as follows: TCQ intervention was referred to as body-mind training (BMT), and the exercise intensity-matched condition was referred to as body training (BT). This was done to help reduce bias by minimizing participants' expectations or perceived differences between the groups.
Source references
references
  1. citation
    Tundealao S, Irwin MR, Cole S, Blair CK, Lu SE, Saraiya B, Kim IY, Guest DD, Lin Y, An J, Arana-Chicas E, Chen C, Handorf E, Stroup A, Kang Y, Arap W, Kinney AY. Biological correlates of cancer-related fatigue in older male cancer survivors. Transl Psychiatry. 2026 Jul 17. doi: 10.1038/s41398-026-04274-1. Online ahead of print.
    pmid
    42469198
    type
    DERIVED
  2. citation
    Kinney AY, An J, Lin Y, Tundealao S, Saraiya B, Lu SE, Guest DD, Harding EM, Amorim F, Heidt E, Arana-Chicas E, Chen C, Boyce T, Kim IY, Arap W, Blair CK, Irwin MR. Project HERO: a randomized trial of Tai Chi qigong versus intensity-matched exercise and usual care for fatigue in older male cancer survivors. BMC Complement Med Ther. 2025 Jul 4;25(1):239. doi: 10.1186/s12906-025-04988-7.
    pmid
    40616105
    type
    DERIVED
Source notices and limitations
    Discovery and provenance
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    Preserved source evidence · Not medical advice