Advances in detection and personalised treatments continue to drive improvements in survival for people with lung cancer. The rollout of the National Lung Cancer Screening Program will likely result in a greater number of people being diagnosed with earlier stage disease. Alongside screening, the growing use of neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy creates increased opportunities to provide prehabilitation prior to surgery.
A growing body of high-quality evidence demonstrates that exercise pre- and rehabilitation interventions are safe and effective across the lung cancer care continuum. These programs reduce postoperative complications, improve cardiorespiratory fitness and health-related quality of life, and reduce the burden of disease- and treatment-related symptoms. Despite this evidence, access to and uptake of exercise-based pre- and rehabilitation services remains low among Australians with lung cancer, reflecting significant gaps in evidence-based practice.
This presentation will provide an overview of the role of exercise for people with lung cancer, spanning prehabilitation, during neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatments and rehabilitation. Current models of care delivery will be discussed, including centre-based, home-based, telehealth and hybrid approaches. Patient preferences and the barriers and enablers that shape engagement with these programs will be presented. Newer areas of practice will also be discussed, including the integration of exercise during immunotherapy and the role of inspiratory muscle training as a component of multimodal prehabilitation. The presentation will conclude by outlining future research priorities, including strategies to improve implementation, scale delivery models and embed exercise as a standard component of lung cancer care, ultimately optimising outcomes and quality of life for people with lung cancer.