Kidney cancer loves obesity and doesn’t like muscle. “Obesity is a known risk factor for renal cell carcinoma, and patients with renal cell carcinoma who have muscle mass loss have a less favorable prognosis,” says medical oncologist Yasser Ged, M.B.B.S. In fact, recent studies have shown that these patients may not respond to immunotherapy.

Can this statistic be changed? A pilot clinical trial aims to find out. Ged is collaborating with Kerry Stewart, Ph.D., Director of Clinical and Research Exercise Physiology, and other investigators to study the effects of combining aerobic and resistance exercise with immunotherapy in patients with metastatic kidney cancer. “We will study the effects of a personalized exercise program in improving patients’ quality of life and response to immunotherapy.” Ged will also be evaluating changes in patients’ muscle strength and density after combined exercise and immunotherapy. This pilot clinical trial is accruing patients.