[Surgical treatment of lung cancer in octagenarian patient]

Because average life span of Japanese is getting longer, we sometimes meet elder lung cancer patients of over 80. They often have many complications, so we are worried about how to treat them. Recently we met 8 elder patients with lung cancer, and we performed surgical operation for them. Six patients performed partial lung resection or lobectomy had no complications after operation. But 2 patients with respiratory disorder who performed lobectomy and chest wall resection had some complications after operation. In such patients, careful postoperative management is needed, and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) ventilation with pressure support (PS) may be useful to prevent respiratory complications.