. 2025 Jul 21;25(1):1195.

doi: 10.1186/s12885-025-14298-3.

Enhancing treatment outcomes after gynaecological cancer (ACUMEN): a randomised controlled exercise trial protocol

Vivian Chiu^{1

2}, Alexander Boytar³, Brent Cunningham^{4

5}, Tina Skinner⁶, Jane Turner⁷, Debra Anderson⁸, Asaduzzaman Khan⁹, Tom Bailey^{5

7}, Janine Porter-Steele^{10

11}, Leonie Young¹¹, Haitham Tuffaha¹², Lewis Perrin^{13

14}, Andrea Garrett^{11

14}, Jeffrey Goh^{15

16}, Grace Rose^{5

7}, Briana Clifford⁶, Sjaan Gomersall⁷, Darren Korbie^{17

18}, Nicolas Constantin^{17

18}, Jackie Li⁷, Alexandra Leigh McCarthy^{4

10}

Affiliations

¹ School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, The University of Queensland, Level 3, Chamberlain Building (35), St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia. vivian.chiu@uq.edu.au.
² Griffith Health Group, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia. vivian.chiu@uq.edu.au.
³ Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education, The University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
⁴ School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, The University of Queensland, Level 3, Chamberlain Building (35), St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia.
⁵ School of Health, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast, Australia.
⁶ School of Health Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
⁷ School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
⁸ Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
⁹ School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
¹⁰ Griffith Health Group, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia.
¹¹ Wesley Research Institute, The Wesley Hospital, Brisbane, Australia.
¹² Centre for the Business and Economics of Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
¹³ Mater Hospital, Brisbane, Australia.
¹⁴ Centre for Gynaecological Cancer, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
¹⁵ Icon Cancer Centre, Greenslopes Private Hospital, Brisbane, Australia.
¹⁶ Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital, Brisbane, Australia.
¹⁷ Centre for Personalized NanoMedicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
¹⁸ Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

PMID: 40691826
PMCID: PMC12278665
DOI: 10.1186/s12885-025-14298-3

Enhancing treatment outcomes after gynaecological cancer (ACUMEN): a randomised controlled exercise trial protocol

Vivian Chiu et al. BMC Cancer. 2025.

. 2025 Jul 21;25(1):1195.

doi: 10.1186/s12885-025-14298-3.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, The University of Queensland, Level 3, Chamberlain Building (35), St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia. vivian.chiu@uq.edu.au.
² Griffith Health Group, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia. vivian.chiu@uq.edu.au.
³ Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education, The University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
⁴ School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, The University of Queensland, Level 3, Chamberlain Building (35), St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia.
⁵ School of Health, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast, Australia.
⁶ School of Health Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
⁷ School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
⁸ Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
⁹ School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
¹⁰ Griffith Health Group, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia.
¹¹ Wesley Research Institute, The Wesley Hospital, Brisbane, Australia.
¹² Centre for the Business and Economics of Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
¹³ Mater Hospital, Brisbane, Australia.
¹⁴ Centre for Gynaecological Cancer, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
¹⁵ Icon Cancer Centre, Greenslopes Private Hospital, Brisbane, Australia.
¹⁶ Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital, Brisbane, Australia.
¹⁷ Centre for Personalized NanoMedicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
¹⁸ Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

PMID: 40691826
PMCID: PMC12278665
DOI: 10.1186/s12885-025-14298-3

Abstract

Background: Treatment for gynaecological cancer often entails challenges that negatively affect quality-of-life. While exercise has been shown to improve physical and psychosocial well-being during cancer recovery, affected women often avoid exercise due to the specific health challenges they face after treatment. The Enhancing treatment outcomes after gynaecological cancer (ACUMEN) program aims to enhance health-related quality of life in this group by promoting lifelong exercise habits.

Methods: The ACUMEN trial is a single-blind, multi-centre randomised controlled trial that evaluates the impact of a structured exercise intervention on quality of life in women who have completed primary treatment for gynaecological cancer within the last 60 months. A total of 342 participants will be randomly assigned to either usual care or an intervention group. The intervention involves a 12-week personalised exercise program, where participants will complete three 1-h exercise sessions per week. During the first six weeks, participants will receive two supervised sessions with accredited exercise physiologists or physiotherapists and self-manage one session per week. In the following six weeks, this shifts to one supervised session and two self-managed sessions weekly, with goal of fostering sustainable, self-managed exercise habits. Assessments will take place at baseline, Week 12 (end of intervention), and Week 24 (end of maintenance). The primary outcome is health-related quality of life, measured by the Short Form-36. Secondary outcomes include exercise self-efficacy, body composition, symptoms of lymphoedema, physical fitness, biological markers, and habitual physical activity levels. For intervention group participants assigned accredited exercise physiologists or physiotherapists will track attendance, adherence, feasibility, and safety.

Discussion: The ACUMEN trial will evaluate whether a structured exercise program improves health-related quality of life in women recovering from gynaecological cancer treatment. The findings will help determine if the intervention is effective and sustainable, with a simultaneous cost-effectiveness analysis conducted to assess its value for money. Results from this study could inform future exercise-based interventions to enhance cancer recovery.

Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (ACTRN12621000050853, registered 19/01/2021).

Keywords: Cancer recovery; Exercise intervention; Gynaecological cancer; Quality of life; Self-efficacy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study has received ethical approval from the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee (reference number: REC/2020/QRBW/67832, protocol version and date at point of submission v1.11 dated 08/03/2024). Any protocol modifications will be approved by the Ethics Committee before implementation. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Recruitment and randomisation pathway for the ACUMEN study

**Fig. 2**
ACUMEN exercise prescription (ExRx) session schematic. Note: HRpeak = peak heart rate determined via age-predicted Eq. (208-(0.8*age)), RM = repetition maximum selected load that those at which those repetitions can be performed, OMNI-Res = perceived level of exertion during resistance training (1 = extremely easy, 10 = extremely hard)

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Cancer data in Australia: AIHW, Australian Government; 2024. Available from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-data-in-australia/contents....
1. Cancer Australia. National Framework for Gynaecological Cancer Control: Cancer Australia, Australian Government; 2016. Available from: https://www.canceraustralia.gov.au/publications-and-resources/cancer-aus....
1. de Rooij BH, Thomas TH, Post KE, Flanagan J, Ezendam NPM, Peppercorn J, et al. Survivorship care planning in gynecologic oncology—perspectives from patients, caregivers, and health care providers. J Cancer Surviv. 2018;12(6):762–74. 10.1007/s11764-018-0713-9. - PMC - PubMed
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1. Kokkinos P, Faselis C, Samuel IBH, Lavie CJ, Zhang J, Vargas JD, et al. Changes in cardiorespiratory fitness and survival in patients with or without cardiovascular disease. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2023;81(12):1137–47. 10.1016/j.jacc.2023.01.027. - PubMed

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Enhancing treatment outcomes after gynaecological cancer (ACUMEN): a randomised controlled exercise trial protocol

Affiliations

Enhancing treatment outcomes after gynaecological cancer (ACUMEN): a randomised controlled exercise trial protocol

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical