Pierce is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. The study is one of the first that will focus on how well patients resume their physical and social activities once they've gone home from the hospital. Traditionally, lung cancer research has focused on information about survival or death after treatment. But over the last few years, an increasing number of patients with advanced stages of lung cancer are now eligible for surgery. These include patients with tumors larger than 3 centimeters, who previously may only have been treated with radiation and chemotherapy.
Surgery is currently the only possible cure for lung cancer.
Researchers are beginning to study the quality and extension of life of those following lung cancer surgery, she said. Patients participating in the study include those from UNMC, the Veterans Administration hospital in Omaha and patients at the Midlands Pulmonary Clinic in Sioux City, Iowa. This study will document measurements in pulmonary function before and after surgery and give us information about whether patients recover to a functional existence or if they become disabled and what may be the reasons causing these deficiencies. Lung cancer is the number one cause of death among men and women in the United States. About 90 percent of lung cancer is associated with cigarette smoking, acccording to the American Cancer Society.