# Prehabilitation (the pre-treatment window)

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/prehabilitation-term/  
OnCo record `prehabilitation-term` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Using the weeks between diagnosis and surgery or chemotherapy to get fitter, better nourished and psychologically prepared, so treatment goes better and recovery is faster.

## Summary

Multimodal prehabilitation combines exercise, nutrition (protein, correction of deficiency, immunonutrition), psychological support and risk-factor control (smoking, alcohol, anaemia). It sits upstream of ERAS and downstream of screening for frailty and malnutrition. Trials show improved functional capacity and, in colorectal surgery, fewer severe complications; the optimal window (4-8 weeks) competes with pressure to operate quickly and with neoadjuvant therapy.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Also known as: Prehab; Pre-operative optimisation

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehabilitation
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehabilitation

## Connected records

- ideas: [Four weeks of training and nutrition before major cancer surgery, as standard](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-bio2-prehabilitation-standard/), [Multimodal prehabilitation for older patients before major cancer surgery](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-acc-prehabilitation-older-surgery/)
- fronts: [Recovery & Rejuvenation](https://onco.cc/fronts/rejuvenation/)
- technologies: [Enhanced recovery (ERAS) and perioperative nutrition](https://onco.cc/technologies/eras-perioperative-nutrition/), [Geriatric assessment](https://onco.cc/technologies/geriatric-assessment/), [Immunonutrition before cancer surgery](https://onco.cc/technologies/immunonutrition-perioperative/), [Prehabilitation before cancer surgery](https://onco.cc/technologies/prehabilitation/), [What a prehabilitation programme actually contains, and how long it needs](https://onco.cc/technologies/rejuv-rehab-prehabilitation-programme/), [What the randomised trials of prehabilitation found, operation by operation](https://onco.cc/technologies/rejuv-rehab-prehabilitation-evidence/)
- trials: [PREHAB: multimodal prehabilitation before colorectal cancer surgery](https://onco.cc/trials/prehab-trial/)
- bottlenecks: [Surgery and radiotherapy cure most, get least](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-surgery-radiation-innovation/)
- terms: [Immunonutrition](https://onco.cc/terms/immunonutrition/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/prehabilitation-term.json