Lung cancer : journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer
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The impact of lung cancer surgery on quality of life trajectories in patients and family caregivers.
Family caregivers (FCGs) play an important role in the quality of life (QOL) of lung cancer patients. FCGs experience significant psychological distress related to their caregiving role, but there is relatively little data about FCG QOL after cancer surgery. We sought to describe QOL trajectories for patients and their FCGs after lung cancer surgery. ⋯ FCGs of lung cancer patients experience significant psychological distress. FCGs continue to have impaired QOL 3 months after surgery. The trajectory of QOL for FCGs does not mirror that of patients. Our palliative care intervention showed improved QOL outcomes for this subset of patients but was not effective for their FCGs.
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Guidelines recommend low-dose CT (LDCT) screening to detect lung cancer among eligible at-risk individuals. We used the OncoSim model (formerly Cancer Risk Management Model) to compare outcomes and costs between annual and biennial LDCT screening. ⋯ Over 20 years, biennial LDCT screening for lung cancer appears to provide similar benefit in terms of QALYs gained to annual screening and is more cost-effective. Further study of biennial screening should be undertaken in population screening programs. A smoking cessation program should be integrated into either screening strategy.