Impact of recreational football in men with prostate cancer undergoing androgen deprivation therapy

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of supervised recreational football-based exercise intervention on physical functioning, cardiovascular and metabolic health, bone strength and quality of life in men with PCa receiving ADT.

Materials and methods: Men with locally advanced or metastatic PCa undergoing ADT were allocated to a supervised recreational football-based exercise programme. Patients were invited to participate in 2-3 one-hour weekly sessions for 8 months and encouraged to participate in at least 2 session/week. Outcomes were physical functioning (postural balance, agility, muscle strength and aerobic capacity), blood pressure, lipid profile (LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, total-cholesterol and triglycerides), glucose, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1C) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), proximal femoral and lumbar spine (L2-L4) bone mineral density (BMD) and quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-PR25). Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was performed using the IBM® SPSS® Statistics version 29 software.

Results: From September to October 2022, 23 interested patients were screened and 12 were included and completed the supervised recreational football-based exercise programme. A significant improvement in aerobic capacity was recorded, with the patients improving the distances walked over 6 minutes (580.0 vs. 537.5, p = 0.005). There was a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure from a median of 134 to 123 and a non-statistically significant decrease in diastolic blood pressure from a mean of 80 to 73 mmHg. There were no significant differences for lumbar and femoral BMD. A tendency for higher general health status post-intervention (80.6 vs. 70.8, p = 0.094) and a significant difference in the cognitive domain (83.0 vs. 100.0, p = 0.020) were recorded.

Conclusions: Men with PCa undergoing ADT experience side effects that, when combined with the physical inactivity and poor fitness often seen in these patients, may heighten their risk of cardiovascular and metabolic complications. A recreational football-based exercise programme can be implemented to improve physical fitness, aerobic capacity, systolic blood pressure and quality of life.

Keywords: androgen deprivation therapy; cardiovascular; physical functioning; prostate cancer; recreational football.