Effectiveness Of Implementing Supervised Exercise Program Into The Clinical Care Of Individuals With Lung Cancer.

Lung cancer is the third most frequent type of cancer in Spain after colorectal and breast cancer. Thanks to the scientific advancements in diagnostic procedures and treatments of cancer, survival rates in lung cancer have increased in recent years. However, there is still a significant percentage of patients who die because of lung cancer recurrences, and metastatic disease. While advanced treatments may increase survival rates, they also present with severe side effects. Some side effects can be treated with additional drugs, but some of them that are not simple to treat and may be chronic problems. For this reason, much attention has been paid to other strategies like physical exercise. PURPOSE: To report the feasibility of a concurrent 8-week exercise program, involving moderate-vigorous intensity, for improving physical condition in lung cancer patients in a community framework. METHODS: The study was an uncontrolled trial using a pre-post design with assessment at baseline and post-intervention (8 weeks). It was conducted at the Exercise Oncology Unit of the Spanish Cancer Association in Madrid from September 2021 to September 2023. All eligible participants provided written informed consent and it was conducted following the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Changes from baseline to post-intervention were analyzed using a paired t-test. RESULTS: A total of 23 lung cancer patients completed the program and post-intervention fitness assessment. Participants had a mean age of 59.69 ± 9.13, 56.5% were women and 43.5% were men. In terms of medical data 17.4% were receiving chemotherapy, 30.4% immunotherapy, 21.7% targeted therapies and 8.7% a combination of chemotherapy-immunotherapy. Moreover, 72.7% had metastatic cancer.Exercise significantly improved VO2 max by 5.53 ml/kg/min (p < .001), chest strength by 10.33 kg (p < .001), leg strength by 26.19 kg (p < .001), lower body functionality by 5.01 squats (p < .001), lean body mass by 0.86 kg (p < .001), skeletal muscle mass by 0.60 kg (p < .001), body fat mass by -1.3 kg (p = .002), %body fat mass by -1.7% (p < .001), visceral fat area by -7.4cm2(p = .002), and phase angle by 0.2φ (p = .001). CONCLUSIONS: An 8-week, supervised, concurrent exercise program involving moderate to vigorous intensity was found to be feasible and effective for lung cancer patients.