Home-based Exercise Training for Lung Cancer Patients Awaiting Surgery

Home-based Preoperative Exercise Training for Lung Cancer Patients Undergoing Surgery: A Feasibility Trial

Surgical resection is the only curative treatment in patients diagnosed with lung cancer, the most mortal type of malignancy globally. However, following lung cancer resection, patients experience a substantial deterioration in health-related quality of life and have an increased risk of developing pulmonary complications.

Although current clinical guidelines strongly recommend preoperative exercise training to improve clinical outcomes after lung cancer surgery, inaccessibility to facility-based exercise programs is a major barrier to routine participation, with patients indicating a strong preference to exercise in a home-based environment.

The primary purpose of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility of a home-based exercise program (HBEP) in lung cancer patients awaiting surgical treatment. The secondary purposes were to evaluate the safety of the HBEP and to explore exercise effects on patients' HRQOL and physical performance, either pre-and post-surgery.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Scheduled for surgical treatment of suspected or confirmed lung cancer (clinical stage IIIA or less)
• Waiting time for surgery of at least two weeks from baseline assessment
• Medical clearance to exercise.
• Signed informed consent prior to initiation of study-related procedures.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Metastatic cancer
• Presence of physical or mental disabilities that contraindicated exercise training or physical testing
• Unable to communicate in Portuguese or English
• Performing combined aerobic plus resistance training over the past month (self-reported ≥2 days a week, ≥30 minutes each session).