FOcus on Reducing Dose-limiting Toxicities in Colon Cancer With Resistance Exercise Study

FORCE is a randomized home-based resistance training/strength training (RT) intervention study for Stage II and III colon cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Participants will be 180 newly diagnosed Stage II and III colon cancer patients from Kaiser Permanente of Northern California (KPNC), the Penn State Cancer Institute (PSCI), and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). The intervention will begin within the first weeks of adjuvant chemotherapy and continue exercise through the completion of post-operative chemotherapy. Specifically, the investigators will examine between group differences for RT versus waitlist control for chemotherapy outcomes including dose delays, dose reductions, early stoppage and Grade 3 and 4 toxicities. The investigators will also study changes in muscle mass (MM) and changes in specific inflammatory markers (e.g. CRP, IL-6 and TNF-RII) as potential markers of change in response to RT. To determine effects of change of MM on chemotherapy-specific drug clearance, the investigators will examine the impact body composition changes on the pharmacokinetics (PK) of 5-FU and oxaliplatin, two of the most commonly used drugs for colon cancer.