Pulmonary rehabilitation and quality of life in lung cancer patients.

Lung cancer is one of the most common types of cancer, often diagnosed in advanced stages. Chest surgery is the main component of curative treatment, the pre-operative functional status being predictive for post-operative morbidity. The potential benefits of pulmonary rehabilitation in lung cancer management appear in pre-operative period, improving the exercise capacity and increasing the number of patients sent to surgery, in post-operative period, decreasing the number of complications, and during the medical treatment of patients with advanced disease, improving the symptoms and increasing the quality of life. The quality of life (QOL) in patients with lung cancer is determined by factors related to patient (stage of disease, co morbidities) as well as treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy). The assessment of QOL is made through questionnaires, mainly related to therapeutic regimens and symptoms. Among the most used are Questionnaire of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC QLQ - C30), Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General (FACT - G), FACT - L (Lung) and the Lung Cancer Symptom Scale (LCSS).