Study Overview

The BRAVE Study is a research study from the Behavioural Medicine Laboratory at the University of Alberta that aims to investigate the viability, efficacy, and safety of aerobic exercise during and after intravesical therapy for bladder cancer.

The BRAVE Study will help to understand whether exercise helps patients feel and function better, and possibly even reduce the risk of cancer recurrence and progression.

We will ask some patients to do a supervised exercise program during the 6 weeks of therapy and the 6 weeks after their treatment while other patients will be asked not to exercise for that 3 month period. We will compare the 2 groups on how they fare with their bladder cancer treatment.

There is no guarantee that exercise will provide any direct benefits to these patients. Moreover, we do not know what effects, if any, exercise may have on the chances of bladder cancer recurrence or progression. However, based on the results of this study, it is hoped that further research may be conducted to improve long-term, patient care in this setting.

Assignment to a group

The patients willing to join the study will be assessed at baseline and randomly assigned to either the control group or exercise training group for 12 weeks.

There is no way to predict which group they will be assigned to. There is an equal chance of being placed in either group.​

The reason why patients are assigned to different groups (control vs exercise) is to compare how they fare with their bladder cancer treatment. Any difference between groups at the end of the study (good or bad) can be more confidently attributed to the exercise intervention.

  • Control Group

Patients randomized to the control group will be asked not to initiate any exercise program or to increase their exercise level from baseline during the 12-week study.

After the post-intervention assessments, patients in the control group will be offered a 4-week supervised exercise program at the Behavioural Medicine Fitness Centre.


  • Exercise Training Group

The patients assigned to the exercise program will receive a 12-week supervised high-intensity aerobic exercise program.


High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) can be described as short periods of vigorous-intensity exercise interspersed with light intensity exercise bouts for recovery.

The exercise prescription is personalized, defined based on the result of physical assessment, and will address different fitness levels of the participants. The sessions will be held three times per week for about one hour each.