Prevención del deterioro funcional, estado cognitivo y calidad de vida en adultos mayores con cáncer de pulmón de células no pequeñas mediante un programa de ejercicio físico multicomponente

Abstract

Lung carcinoma is the most frequent cause of death from tumors, and non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) constitutes approximately 85% to 90% of malignant lung tumors. Its incidence continues to increase steadily, and only 13% of patients who develop NSCLC are alive at five years. Of the patients in stage IV disease, less than 10% of those who receive the best supportive treatment manage to survive one year. Therapeutic options include surgical resection, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted treatment, immunotherapy, and palliative care, either alone or in combination. However, in many patients, the therapeutic options together with the direct effects of the progression of the carcinoma such as fatigue, dyspnoea, weight loss and pain, combined with the indirect effects of cancer treatment, progressively lead to deterioration of the functional capacity that impacts quality of life and emotional wellness. In this sense, it has been suggested that supervised physical exercise can reduce symptoms, increase exercise tolerance and improve the quality of life of these patients. However, it is unclear what effect exercise training has on these outcomes in patients with advanced NSCLC. Finally, the effectiveness of multicomponent exercise programs to improve other outcomes, such as functional capacity, dyspnoea fatigue and health-related quality of life in the context of oncogeriatrics based on non-pharmacological interventions, is not yet known. In this doctoral Thesis, we present the results of a systematic review and a clinical study that demonstrates the impact of interventions with multicomponent physical exercise programs in preventing functional deterioration and improving cognitive status and quality of life in older adults with NSCLC in the prehabilitation, adjuvant and palliative treatment phases, in recognized JCR-indexed international scientific journals on the Web of Science - Journal Citation Reports.