Lung function evaluation before surgery in lung cancer patients: how are recent advances put into practice? A survey among members of the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) and of the Thoracic Oncology Section of the European Respiratory Society (ERS).

In recent years, an abundant literature related to preoperative evaluation of lung cancer patients has been published. Therefore, the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) agreed to form a task force with the aim of developing new guidelines and recommendations to evaluate the fitness of lung cancer patients undergoing radical treatment. One of the first priorities of the task force members was to assess the state-of-the-art of functional evaluation and perioperative treatment of these patients. A multiplechoice survey covering several aspects of this subject was designed and administered online. This survey aimed at assessing how the recent advances in preoperative evaluation of lung function have been put into practice. More specifically, we focused on the cardiologic evaluation before lung resection, the role of diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO) in predicting complications, and the interpretation of split function studies. We