Objective: To evaluate the health-related quality of life of patients submitted to resection of the pulmonary parenchyma due to neoplasia. Methods: The Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey was used to evaluate patients in the preoperative period and on postoperative days 30, 90 and 180. We used the GEE statistical model, in which the dependent variable (quality of life) changes for each patient over the course of the evaluation. Independent variables were gender, age, educational level, type of surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, forced vital capacity and 6-minute walk test. The level of significance adopted was 5%. Results: The final study sample comprised 36 patients, 20 of whom were men. Of those 36 patients, 17 were submitted to lobectomy, 10 to pneumonectomy, 6 to segmentectomy, and 3 to bilobectomy. Chemotherapy was used in 15 patients, radiotherapy in 2, and a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy in 2. Improved quality of life was seen in the following domains: social (on postoperative day 90); physical/functional (some patients presenting better forced vital capacity and 6-minute walk test performance); and physical (in patients undergoing smaller resections). Lowered quality of life was seen in the following domains: social (for female patients); physical/social (resulting from radiotherapy, chemotherapy or both); and physical/functional (by postoperative day 30). Conclusions: It is important that studies evaluating the various determinants of quality of life, as well as the impact that cancer treatment modalities have on such variables, be conducted. The knowledge provided by such studies can contribute to improving the quality of life of patients undergoing pulmonary resection due to neoplasia.

Keywords: Lung neoplasms/surgery; Pneumonectomy; Quality of life; Questionnaires

Objective: To evaluate the effect of chemotherapy on the physical condition of patients with advanced lung cancer. Methods: We evaluated 50 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (in stages IIIB and IV) and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status scale scores between zero and two. All patients underwent chemotherapy using paclitaxel and platinum derivatives and were evaluated at three time points (prechemotherapy, postchemotherapy and six months after starting the treatment), at which the ECOG scale, the body mass index (BMI) and the six-minute walk distance (6MWD) were assessed. Results: Of the 50 patients included in the study, 14 died, 5 were excluded due to the worsening of their performance status, and 31 completed the six-month follow-up. There was no statistically significant difference between the time points of assessment for BMI (prechemotherapy vs. postchemotherapy, p = 1.00; and prechemotherapy vs. six months later, p = 0.218) or for 6MWD. Performance status improved, and this was especially due to the increase in the number of asymptomatic patients after the six-month follow-up (p = 0.031). Conclusions: Chemotherapy had a beneficial effect on the performance status of the patients. No significant changes in BMI or 6MWD were found during the study period, which might suggest the maintenance of the physical condition of the patients.

Keywords: Drug therapy; Lung neoplasms; Exercise tolerance.