An interventional study of Pulmonary Rehab in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Lung Cancer, sponsored by University of Vermont. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-03-23.
Sponsored by University of Vermont · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
This proposed project will be a single arm, non-masked study. Participants who are actively smoking with a diagnosis of a new lung nodule, either confirmed or suspicious for lung cancer, with a plan for lung cancer treatment with or without surgical resection will be recruited from the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC)pulmonary, cardiothoracic surgery, and Lung Multidisciplinary Clinic (LMDC). All patients will be enrolled in prehab and offered smoking cessation therapy. The acceptability and feasibility of this intervention will be measured by percent enrollment in study, attendance, barriers to completion, and monitoring of adverse events. The effect of prehab will be measured by traditional metrics, including fitness, respiratory symptoms, and depression scale. Research outcomes will be measured by smoking habits, anxiety, and surgical complications.
Investigators estimate that 20 participants over a two-year period will be sufficient to measure the safety and feasibility of this study. Investigators aim to enroll, on average, 2 participants per month in order to complete this study in a timely fashion. Participants will be enrolled in prehab on a rolling basis, as to not delay surgical timeline.
The benefits of pulmonary rehab (PR) prior to lung resection have not been well-studied in the population that could benefit from it the most, patients with COPD who smoke. This study would be innovative in two major ways. First, the impact of prehab in those who smoke could be established. Secondly, the optimal model of prehab, which meets the clinical needs of the patient in the pre-surgical window, and aligns with the current model of PR, could be determined.
Screening and Recruitment Investigators estimate that 20 participants over a two-year period will be sufficient to measure the safety and feasibility of this study. Investigators aim to enroll, on average, 2 participants per month in order to complete this study in a timely fashion. Participants will be enrolled in prehab on a rolling basis, as to not delay surgical timeline.
Some procedures will be performed as a component of standard of care and some will be for research purposes only. This distinction is outlined in the sections below.
Intake and Baseline Assessment After informed consent, participants will complete the initial assessment with study coordinator. This will include anthropometrics, demographics like age, sex, race and ethnicity, and other sociodemographic and economic characteristics such as education, marital status, income, etc. This assessment will also include thorough medical, and surgical review, healthcare resource utilization, medication usage, substance use and smoking history, specifically recall of average cigarettes per day, carbon monoxide measurements, Fagerström nicotine dependence scale, and readiness to change. Investigators will also administer the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) questionnaire to assess for anxiety. Following intake, participants will be enrolled in the prehab program, which will include standard of care intake measurements including 6-minute walk distance (6MWD), mMRC, SGRQ, short physical performance battery (SPPB), and PHQ-9. For ease of the patient, Investigators will offer that this be performed on the same day, in a private medical setting at the PR facility. If the patient chooses, Investigators can offer intake at the Vermont Lung Center on a separate day.
Prehab Prehab will include 2, one-hour sequential sessions of PR per day as is standard, however this intervention will increase the frequency from 2 days to 4 days per week, for 2 weeks, thus completing 16 sessions of PR prior to or in the early stages of treatment. An exercise prescription will be written by the medical director based on initial 6MWD, age, height, weight, and co-morbidities, as is standard of care. Prior to each session, patients are evaluated for symptoms and vital signs are measured. Exercise will include 30 minutes of warm-up and upper and lower extremity resistance training, either against gravity or with resistance bands as appropriate. Exercise will then move to the open gym, where patients utilize endurance equipment of their choosing, such as a treadmill or recumbent bicycle. As with traditional PR, participants will be given online education videos regarding lung health to complete at home, with a supplementary video on breathing techniques to reduce atelectasis from pain. Virtual synchronous home-based PR will be offered to patients who have barriers to in-center PR.
Smoking Cessation Intervention Regarding smoking cessation, patients will be offered and prescribed the gold standard therapies in an attempt at smoking cessation, including a one-hour individual counseling session with a mental health therapist trained in smoking cessation therapy, varenicline treatment, dual acting NRT, and referral to the state smoking cessation program. Education modules on the benefits of smoking cessation will also be created for participants to review in the education portion of prehab. None of these interventions will be required, but offered as is standard of care.
Assessments Post-Prehab and 30 Days Post-Treatment Following completion of prehab prior to lung resection surgery Pulmonary Rehabilitation standard of care assessments and research-based assessments will be repeated. This will include interim health history, healthcare resource utilization, and medication usage, assessment for adverse events and COPD exacerbations, substance use and smoking status including recall of average cigarettes per day, carbon monoxide measurements, Fagerström nicotine dependence scale, readiness to change, GAD-7 and the study evaluation. 30 days following lung cancer treatment, the study team will review the participants medical record for any adverse events.
5,520 studies on the registry are indexed under Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive; 856 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 20 is below the median of 62 across 3,839 interventional studies indexed under Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive.
Browse Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive studies →University of Vermont is the lead sponsor of 221 studies on the registry; 27 are open to participants now.
Of its 17 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 9 (53%) have results posted.
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Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.
Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Biopsy and archival tissue
A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.
Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Other: Pulmonary Rehab
Prehab will include 2, one-hour sequential sessions of PR/day, however this intervention will increase the frequency from standard 2 days/week up to 4 days/week, while initiating treatment or awaiting surgery but not exceed 4 weeks, thus completing 16 sessions prior to surgery. An exercise prescription will be written by the medical director based on initial 6MWD, age, height, weight, and co-morbidities, per SOC.
Proportion of patients determined eligible who enroll in the study
Acceptability and feasibility will be documented by percent of those eligible enrolling in the study.
Time frame: Through study completion, approximately 2 years
Average Pulmonary Rehab sessions completed
Acceptability and feasibility will be determined by the proportion of pulmonary rehab sessions completed during this condensed pulmonary rehab program
Time frame: The 14 day (up to 21 day) intervention period
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