Get strong to fight childhood cancer – An exercise intervention for children and adolescents undergoing anti-cancer treatment

Last week, the FORTEe Team from FORMA3D in Ljubljana, Slovenia, embarked on an exciting journey to visit their counterparts in Monza and Milan, Italy. The purpose of this visit was two-fold: to strengthen the collaborative bond between FORTEe project partners and provide an opportunity for mentor and mentee pairs to meet face-to-face. Everyone was eager to exchange ideas, insights, and experiences that would further enhance the success of the FORTEe project!

Now, let’s read about Meta and Domen’s reflection on the visit:

“We have been looking forward to our visit to Monza and Milan for quite some time, to see first-hand how the FORTEe project works in those centres. It was great to meet our fellow researchers and, of course, our mentors from the mentor-mentee program. They were very knowledgeable and made us feel welcomed there. We shared our experiences and had a lot of fun experiencing their work environment. We took part in cardio-pulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), which was very interesting to see, because we do not perform these measurements in our centre. We also had the chance to meet their patients, who shared their positive thoughts about the program, so we left Italy with even more enthusiasm for working in the future. Thanks again to the Italian team!”

Thank you, Meta and Domen, for sharing your experience with us!
Together we #GetStrongToFightChildhoodCancer!

Embarking on a mentor-mentee training journey abroad can be a transformative experience for both mentors and mentees. It’s an opportunity to not only exchange knowledge but also to forge lasting connections across borders. In the first week of October 2023, Emma Fredskild Høvighoff, a young researcher from RegionH in Copenhagen, paid a visit to the FORTEe Team in Madrid as part of the training activities embedded in the FORTEe project.

Let’s hear Emma’s thoughts about the visit:

“First of all, it was a lovely trip and great to meet fellow researchers from FORTEe! It was inspiring to see how they run FORTEe in Madrid, get inspiration and discuss challenges. I was very lucky to see how they analyze blood samples with some of the same techniques as they will use in the biomarker project in FORTEe. Furthermore, I also joined a small presentation with the team and got to see the other projects they are working with. It was overall a great trip and it was lovely that the team in Madrid took so good care of me when I was there! I got home with renewed energy and inspiration.
I think the mentor-mentee visit is a great opportunity for us young investigators to be able to go and visit other recruiting centers within the FORTEe trial. I think it helps us strengthen the bond between the different centers, which I think is important when we work with partners that are located so far away from each other. I think the money and time we spend on these trips will pay off both during the FORTEe project, but hopefully also help us collaborate in making other great research projects within pediatric exercise oncology in the future. “

Thank you, Emma, for sharing your experience with us! Together we #GetStrongToFightChildhoodCancer!

We have just had the incredible opportunity to present FORTEe at the 55th Annual Congress of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology – SIOP in Ottawa, Canada. Dennis Wilke shared the first promising results of his qualitative research within Work Package 2 (WP2), focusing on childhood cancer patients’ experiences with a structured exercise programme. All patients participating in the interventions reported predominantly positive effects on their overall well-being, endurance, fitness, and body awareness!