Quality of life following lung cancer surgery: what about before?

Lung cancer is the major malignancy worldwide with cigarette smoking being the main risk-factor. In lung cancer patients, quality of life is considered the strongest prognostic factor for survival irrespective of initial performance status, weight loss, stage of disease, number of metastatic sites, and type of treatment. The study evaluates the health-related quality of life of patients after surgical intervention using a generic questionnaire, the Medical Outcome Study Questionnaire Short Form, and compares this outcome with a normal healthy population, lung cancer patients, and coronary artery bypass grafting patients. Compared with healthy controls and coronary bypass patients, lung cancer patients had significantly higher impaired physical functioning scores, comparable with mean scores for anxiety and depression. However, health-related quality of life in lung cancer remains an issue which needs further assessment.