Multimodal Prehabilitation in Patients with Lung Cancer Undergoing Neoadjuvant Therapy

Neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) with chemoimmunotherapy is currently indicated for patients with locoregional advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) prior to resection surgery, but literature has suggested that this is associated with decreased pulmonary function and potentially cardiorespiratory fitness, leading to increased risk of postoperative complications. In this study, we aimed to: 1) compare the effects of NAT on cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2peak) and lung function (DLCO, FEV1 and FVC) in patients with locoregional lung cancer undergoing prehabilitation before lung resection surgery.

Secondary objectives included:

1. To determine feasibility of the intervention (recruitment rate, competition rate and adherence) as well as safety (incidence of adverse events), particularly regarding the exercise component; 2. To quantify the effects of the intervention in terms of functional capacity (1min Sit-to-Stand Test), mood (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) and self-reported physical activity (Yale Physical Activity Survey). 3. To assess the effects of multimodal prehabilitation on treatment completion (dose reductions/delays in planning/treatment withdrawal) as well as tolerability/toxicity (Coming Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.03) to chemo/immunotherapy 4. To assess the effects of multimodal prehabilitation on surgical outcomes (postoperative complications based on the Comprehensive Complication Index (CCI) of the Clavien-Dindo Classification System and length of hospital stay). 5. To determine the effect of the intervention on post-operative functional recovery by means of the 1-min Sit-To-Stand test conducted at hospital discharge.

In order to achieve this, we will conduct a prospective study including all patients with NSCLC scheduled for NAT (chemoimmunotherapy or chemotherapy alone) across four different hospitals in Spain and France. Patients will be identified from the multidisciplinary tumour board and will be subsequently referred to the oncologist consultation. After this, one of the members of the researchers will contact the patient and explain the purpose of the study. Those who are willing to participate, will be scheduled to undergo a CardioPulmonary Exercise Test (CPET) in addition to standard lung function tests (spirometry, diffusion capacity of carbon monoxide). After that, patients will be invited to participate in a multimodal prehabilitation program including supervised exercise training, home-based inspiratory muscle training, nutritional optimization and psychological support. Patients who refuse participation in the program due to logistic reasons, will be asked to serve as controls. In addition, we will also use data from a historical cohort including patients treated with chemoimmunotherapy prior to the implementation of the study as controls.

Patients will be assessed at baseline, after NAT and post-surgery (at hospital discharge).