Exercise Rehabilitation in Veteran Cancer Survivors

Exercise rehabilitation has the potential as a non-pharmacological approach to reduce persistent neuropathic pain in Veterans with lung cancer. By examining the effects of exercise training in Veteran cancer survivors with NSCLC, there is the potential to revolutionize care for a: common, debilitating, and inadequately treated symptom in a growing population. This could lead to a larger investigation to fill critical gaps in the literature and at the same time help discover a new model of care for Veterans with chronic pain. The ultimate goal is to reduce this type of pain for the growing population of cancer survivors while simultaneously reducing the need for problematic opioid management.

Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age 60-80 years 2. Diagnosis with lung cancer 3. History of treatment with either thoracotomy procedure or neurotoxic chemotherapy or both 4. Completion of thoracotomy or chemotherapy \> or = 6 months 5. Ability to walk on a treadmill 6. Karnofsky performance status \> 70 7. Score \> 1 Neuropathic Pain Scale Exclusion Criteria: 1. Presence of metastatic (stage IV) 2. Life expectancy \< 6 months 3. Musculoskeletal or medical conditions which preclude participation in an exercise program