Do patients with lung cancer benefit from physical exercise?

Abstract

Background. Patients with lung cancer are often burdened by dyspnoea, fatigue, decreased physical ability and loss of weight. Earlier studies of physical exercise of patients with COPD have shown promising results. The aim of this study was to investigate, if a well-documented COPD rehabilitation protocol can improve physical fitness and quality of life (QoL) in patients with lung cancer. Material and methods. Forty-five patients, with a minimum walking distance of 50 meters, absence of cognitive deficits or severe heart disease and motivated for physical training were invited to an exercise intervention. The intervention consisted of seven weeks of twice weekly training, focusing on walking training, circuit training, handling of dyspnoea and instructions in daily diary-based training at home. Prior to, and after the intervention, Incremental- and Endurance Shuttle Walk Test (ISWT and ESWT) were performed, and pulmonary function as well as self-reported QoL (EORTC-QLQ-C30 and LC13) were measured. Results. Fourteen subjects dropped out before commencement of the intervention. Seven were excluded after physiotherapeutic evaluation. Of the remaining 24, three were excluded because of insufficient attendance (<65% of scheduled exercise sessions) thus 21 patients completed the intervention. For 17 patients with complete pre- and post intervention data, ISWT increased 9% (−77 to 39%) (median and range) (p = 0.021), while ESWT increased 109% (−70 to 432%) (p = 0.002). Twelve of 17 improved in ISWT, while 15 improved in ESWT. No changes in pulmonary function and improvements in QoL were observed. Conclusion. Patients with pulmonary cancer can achieve significant improvements in physical fitness measured with ISWT and ESWT after completion of the intervention program. No changes in pulmonary function and QoL were observed. In addition, we found that a large number of patients dropped out before intervention and that the patients, who succeeded, often discontinued training at home.