Assessment of patient-reported symptom and psychological distress after neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy and lung resection for non-small cell lung cancer.

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All Authors

Pompili, C.
Tariq, J.
Bhatnagar, P.
Brown, N.
Chaudhuri, N.
Clarke, K.
Fei, S.
Franks, K.
Lodhia, J.
Milton, R.
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LTHT Author

Tariq, Javeria
Bhatnagar, Pooja
Chaudhuri, Nilanjan
Clarke, Katy
Fei, Sun
Franks, Kevin
Lodhia, Joshil
Milton, Richard
Nardini, Marco
Papagiannopoulos, Kostas
Tcherveniakov, Peter
Teh, Elaine
Brunelli, Alessandro

LTHT Department

Cardio-Respiratory
Cardiothoracic Surgery
Drs Rotation
Oncology
Thoracic Surgery
Leeds Cancer Centre
Medical Oncology
Clinical Oncology
Cardio Respiratory

Non Medic

Publication Date

2026

Item Type

Journal Article

Language

Subject

LUNG NEOPLASMS , NEOADJUVANT THERAPY , PATIENT REPORTED OUTCOME MEASURES , QUALITY OF LIFE , HOSPITALS

Subject Headings

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy is associated with oncologic benefits in patients undergoing resection for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We assessed patient-reported physical and psychological symptoms following neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy and surgery compared to stage-equivalent patients who were operated during the same period without neodjuvant treatment. METHODS: All consecutive patients submitted to lung resection for clinical stage II and III NSCLC between March 2023 and December 2024 and alive at the time of the interview were approached for the study. Their patient-reported symptoms were assessed using the Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Symptom Assessment Questionnaire (NSCLC-SAQ) and their psychological distress was assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). RESULTS: Of the 138 patients initially screened, 82 completed the survey. Median time from surgery to the interview was 13.9 months. There was no difference in total NSCLC-SAQ score between patients undergoing upfront surgery (S) and surgery after neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy (CT-IO) (P = .64). Chemo-immunotherapy was not independently associated with total NSCLC-SAQ score after multivariable regression analysis. The average anxiety and depression scores were also similar between the 2 groups. Finally, a similar proportion of patients in the 2 groups reported to have symptoms similar or better than before starting treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show in a real clinical practice setting that neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy is not negatively associated with patient-reported physical or psychological symptoms in the medium to long-term follow-up compared to surgery alone. These results can be used as information tool during patients' counselling. Copyright © The Author(s) 2026. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery.

Journal

Interdisciplinary Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14838/3084

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icvts/ivag003

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