NAVIGATE - Improving Survival and Quality of Life in Vulnerable Lung Cancer Patients Through Nurse Navigation, Symptom Monitoring and Exercise: Study Protocol for a Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

During a period of 3 years and 10 months, consecutive newly diagnosed (< 1 week) lung cancer patients will be pre-screened for eligibility and invited to participate at departments of oncology or respiratory medicine in Denmark. Participants (N=250) will be randomized (1:1) to standard treatment plus the intervention (intervention group) or standard treatment (control group) and followed for 1 year. Patients randomized to the control group will receive standard treatment and care consisting of a nurse and a physician, who sees the patient at treatment schedules and during follow-up, i.e. every 3 months for the first 2 years and subsequently annually up to 5 years.

Data will be collected from the intervention and the control group at baseline within 6 weeks after diagnosis, and 3, 6 months and 12 months after diagnosis. Physical tests will be performed at baseline and after 3 and 6 months. Baseline physical tests will be allowed after randomization if patients have difficulties in attending the physiotherapy department within 6 weeks after their diagnosis. Considering that participating patients are vulnerable with limited resources we will proactively support patients in responding to questionnaires electronically, on paper or via telephone as per patient's preference allowing evaluation of the primary and secondary outcomes as well as covariates and mechanisms. The treatment factors will be obtained from the lung cancer clinical database and individual medical journals. In order to develop cost utility analyses, information on use of health services will be retrieved from the national registers.