Pre training screening Each Patient was screened by a clinical nurse specialist prior to participating in each physical training session and before the physiological tests (35). If one of the following criteria were met, the patient was prohibited from exercising/being tested on that day: diastolic blood pressure <45 or >95, heart rate (HR) at rest >115/min, temperature > 38 0C, respiratory rate at rest >30/min, infection requiring treatment, fresh bleeding, total leucocyte count <1.0 109/L or platelets <50 109/L. Physical tests and HRQOL evaluation were performed at baseline and after six weeks of training.