Proactive physical activity programs in lung cancer surgical patients at short and mid-term: A systematic review and meta-analysis

To assess the effects of proactive physical activity (PA) programs on lung cancer patients undergoing lung resection at short and mid-term. We conducted a literature search through MEDLINE, Science Direct, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library (last search October 2023). The GRADE System and the Cochrane tool were applied to quality assessment. The included studies focused on the application of proactive PA interventions among lung cancer surgical patients compared to usual or standard care. We performed a meta-analysis addressing hospital stay, cancer-related symptoms, quality of life, and exercise capacity at short and mid-term. We selected 9 studies, which included 798 lung cancer patients. Proactive interventions were applied in combination with respiratory training and exercise in most of the studies. The treatment status was heterogeneous. Significant results in favour of proactive interventions were observed for hospital stay, cancer-related symptoms, quality of life, and short and mid-term exercise capacity. Proactive PA interventions showed positive effects for reducing length stay, enhancing exercise capacity at short and mid-term, alleviating cancer-related symptoms, and improving the quality of life for lung cancer surgical patients. Proactive interventions can optimize the timing and setting of PA results around lung surgical treatment. • Proactive PA programs could reduce the length of stay of lung cancer surgical patients. • Proactive PA programs could enhance the exercise capacity of lung cancer surgical patients. • Proactive PA programs could alleviate the symptoms of lung cancer surgical patients. • Proactive PA programs could improve the quality of life of lung cancer surgical patients. • Proactive PA programs show positive outcomes at short and mid-term.