title: Safety and feasibility of a combined exercise intervention for inoperable lung cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy: a pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the safety and feasibility of a six-week supervised structured exercise and relaxation training programme on estimated peak oxygen consumption, muscle strength and health related quality of life (HRHRQOL) in patients with inoperable lung cancer, undergoing chemotherapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective, single-arm intervention study of supervised, hospital based muscle and cardiovascular group training and individual home-based training. Peak oxygen consumption (VO(2peak)) was assessed using an incremental exercise test. Muscle strength was measured with one repetition maximum test (1RM). HRQOL was assessed using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Lung (FACT-L) scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-five patients with non-small cell cancer (NSCLC) stage III-IV and four patients with extensive disease small cell lung cancer (SCLC-ED) were recruited. Six patients (20.7%) dropped out leaving 23 patients for analysis. Exercise adherence in the group training was 73.0% and 8.7% in the home-based training. There were improvements in estimated VO(2peak) and six-minute walk distance (6 MWD) as well as increased muscle strength measurements (p<0.05). There was significant improvement in the "emotional well-being" parameter (FACT-L) while there were no significant changes in HRQOL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Exercise training produces significant improvements in physiological indices and emotional HRQOL and is safe and feasible in patients with advanced stage lung cancer, undergoing chemotherapy. No analysis on home-based training was done because of low adherence.
authors.affiliation: The University Hospitals Centre for Nursing and Care Research (UCSF) Department 7331, University Hospital Copenhagen, Denmark. m.quist@rh.regionh.dk
authors.forename: Morten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quist
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rørth
authors.forename: Seppo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Langer
authors.forename: Lee W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Jørgen H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Laursen
authors.forename: Helle
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pappot
authors.forename: Karl Bang
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: Lis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Adamsen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D053580:Muscle Strength; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life