German–Slovenian Collaboration for Managing Fatigue during Anti-Cancer Immunotherapy

Dr. Damir Zubac, coordinator of the bilateral project between the University of Cologne and the Science and Research Centre Koper, led a workshop on Wednesday, April 15, at the library of the ZRS Koper headquarters on the role of exercise in managing chronic fatigue during anti-cancer immunotherapy.

The project coordinated by Dr. Zubac is entitled Managing Chronic Fatigue during Immunotherapy: German–Slovenian Collaboration for Precision Exercise Oncology and is funded by the Cologne International Forum.

Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is one of the most common and most debilitating side effects of cancer treatment. Although it is known that exercise can reduce chronic fatigue in patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy, very little is known about the development of fatigue during acute immunotherapy treatment, as well as how it can be alleviated. Research presented by Dr. Zubac suggests that exercise may also play an important role in this context.

The project brings together experts from the University Hospital of Cologne in Germany and the Science and Research Centre Koper in Slovenia. Cologne provides a unique clinical environment in which exercise therapy is fully integrated into oncological care, enabling patients to engage in structured and supervised exercise during treatment. The Slovenian team contributes advanced tools for studying metabolism and skeletal muscle function, including imaging methods and non-invasive techniques such as near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and tensiomyography (TMG). The project investigates skeletal muscle function during exercise in patients receiving immunotherapy and explores why some individuals develop more severe chronic fatigue than others. It also examines the effects of aging and physical inactivity on muscle metabolism and whether real-time monitoring of muscle oxygenation can improve the personalization of exercise programs for individual patients.