Can exercise help lung-cancer patients after surgery?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-12-03 03:00

Australia; VIC

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After surgery for lung cancer, a three-month, home-based exercise and self-management program can improve exercise capacity, quality of life, and self-belief in exercise ability, according to Aussie researchers, who found that, despite these benefits, patients' physical functioning did not improve. The team tested 116 lung cancer patients to find out if the exercise and self-management program, supported by physiotherapists, could improve self-reported physical function after surgery. They found that, although there wasn't an improvement in physical function, participants could walk further in six minutes, and reported improvements in quality of life, and self-belief in their exercise abilities after three months.