• Shintaro Tarumi, Hiroyasu Yokomise, Masashi Gotoh, Yoshitaka Kasai, Natsumi Matsuura, Sung Soo Chang, and Tetsuhiko Go.
• Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Breast and Endocrinological Surgery, Kagawa University, Kagawa, Japan. Electronic address: starumi@med.kagawa-u.ac.jp.
• J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg.. 2015 Feb 1;149(2):569-73.

ObjectiveChemoradiotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer can impair pulmonary function, particularly when it is followed by surgery. This study aimed to document the changes in respiratory function as a result of a perioperative intensive pulmonary rehabilitation program in patients with non-small cell lung cancer who underwent induction chemoradiotherapy.MethodsA total of 82 consecutive patients underwent pulmonary resection after undergoing induction chemoradiotherapy. A pulmonary rehabilitation program was started at the same time as the induction chemoradiotherapy. Standard respiratory function tests were performed before and after induction chemoradiotherapy. Treatment-related mortality and the incidence of postoperative respiratory complications were investigated. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to analyze the differences in spirometric changes.ResultsAll patients underwent a pulmonary rehabilitation program for an average of 10 weeks. Significant increases were observed in forced vital capacity (+6.4%, P = .0096) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (+10.4%, P < .0001). Diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide decreased (-14.0%, P < .0001). Patients with respiratory impairment (forced vital capacity <80% predicted or forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity <70%) showed significant improvements in forced vital capacity (+13.9%, P = .0025) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (+22.5%, P < .0001). Significant increases were observed in forced vital capacity (+7.0%, P = .0042) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (+10.8%, P = .0001) in patients with a smoking history. There was no mortality, and postoperative respiratory morbidity was 6.1%.ConclusionsA pulmonary rehabilitation program for patients with non-small cell lung cancer undergoing induction chemoradiotherapy seems to improve respiratory function. It is particularly recommended for smokers and patients with respiratory impairment.Copyright © 2015 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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