Lifestyle medicine plays a pivotal role in preventing new or recurring cancer. Adopting healthy habits during and after treatment significantly enhances patient outcomes, improving quality of life and reducing the risk of recurrence. But how can health care providers create accessible lifestyle programs tailored to cancer survivors' needs?
Tracy E. Crane, Ph.D., RDN, co-lead of the Cancer Control Program at Sylvester and director of lifestyle medicine, prevention and digital health, is working to answer that question with several initiatives. In addition to launching the High-Risk Lifestyle Medicine, Prevention and Digital Health program, which focuses on helping survivors and their support persons reduce cancer risk through healthy lifestyle behaviors, she and her team began the Precision Oncology Interventions in Nutrition and Training (OnPOINT) clinical trial. This trial seeks to understand how personalized nutrition and exercise approaches can improve wellness after cancer treatment.
The $700,000, three-year OnPOINT study, funded by The Applebaum Foundation and Sylvester, initially focuses on adults treated for breast, prostate and colorectal cancers, which represent more than 50% of cancer survivors in the U.S. The trial involves 300 participants in an eight-week program tailored to their fitness, diet and quality of life. Using wearable fitness data and participant feedback, researchers assess symptoms and group individuals into low-, moderate- or high-complexity categories, providing support ranging from text-based tools to one-on-one sessions with dietitians and physiologists.
OnPOINT will help develop an algorithm for precise lifestyle interventions, ensuring the right care at the right time. Sylvester's proprietary My Wellness Research tool integrates patient data into care plans, optimizing findings for real-world application. The study will expand to include blood cancer survivors, contributing to long-term health improvements and advancing the field of exercise oncology.
Dr. Matthew SchlumbrechtSylvester also co-leads one of the four trials in the NCI-funded Exercise and Nutrition Interventions to Improve Cancer Treatment-related Outcomes (ENICTO) consortium. Dr. Crane and Matthew Schlumbrecht, M.D., M.P.H., co-director for research operations for Sylvester's Cancer Survivorship program, are guiding Sylvester's involvement. Dr. Crane directs the diet and nutrition working group, while Dr. Penedo leads the patient-reported outcomes working group. Together, they collaborate with Yale University on the Trial of Exercise and Lifestyle in Women with Ovarian Cancer (TEAL), currently recruiting ovarian cancer patients who are beginning chemotherapy. The trial explores whether a prescribed diet and exercise regimen can improve treatment outcomes for ovarian cancer, the leading cause of gynecological cancer death in the U.S.
Dr. Crane also continues to co-lead the Lifestyle Intervention for Ovarian Cancer Enhanced Survival (LIVES) trial, collaborates with colleagues on the V Foundation-funded Lifestyle Intervention of Food and Exercise for Lymphoma Survivors (LIFE-L) study and launched an NCI-funded study with the NRG Oncology Group that focuses on the digital health component of Dr. Crane's research. In addition, she's involved with two more studies enrolling participants: FastER, which studies the effects of exercise and fasting on breast cancer, and VITALITY, which examines lifestyle interventions for older cancer survivors and their caregivers.
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Dr. Crane emphasizes Sylvester's unique approach: "We not only offer traditional social support and psychology, but also art therapy, nutrition and exercise trainers. We study these aspects of survivorship, including lifestyle medicine, in real-time, translating new research directly into clinical practice."
Dr. Tracy CranePrograms like "Believe in You," which prepares cancer survivors for the Dolphins Cancer Challenge, help build strength and confidence while encouraging survivors to stay active posttreatment. Sylvester also offers survivors an online library of exercise videos for continued support.
By advancing lifestyle interventions and combining research, digital health and personalized care, Sylvester is leading the charge in improving health outcomes for cancer survivors and preventing new cancers, setting a new standard for cancer care.