Fitness for radical treatment of Lung cancer patients

Abstract

Surgical pulmonary resection and chemoradiotherapy both induce significant mortality and morbidity in lung cancer patients. Many studies have intended to identify the patients at increased risk of treatment-induced complications. In this review, we will describe the various tests proposed to assess fitness before radical treatment of lung cancer. We will also consider the strategies aimed at using the less invasive and most powerful investigations, summarised as functional algorithms in scientific societies' guidelines. The main recent studies, published after the guidelines were available, will also be reviewed.