Quality of Life Before and After Major Lung Resection for Lung Cancer: A Prospective Follow-Up Analysis

Candidates for lung resection with lung cancer had a worse preoperative quality of life compared with the general population. Quality-of-life measures had poor correlation with forced expiratory volume in 1 second, carbon monoxide lung diffusion capacity, and exercise test performance. Therefore, these functional variables cannot substitute for specific evaluation instruments. Finally, patients traditionally considered at higher risk for lung resection had postoperative physical and emotional quality of life scores similar to those observed in younger and fitter patients.