[Clinical analysis of elderly patients with primary lung cancer]

We clinically reviewed 33 surgery patients and 15 non-surgery patients aged 80 years or older with primary lung cancer treated at our hospital. The surgery group consisted of 21 males and 12 females (82.0 +/- 1.9 years old). The surgical procedures were 1 pneumonectomy, 19 lobectomies (1 bronchoplasty), 4 segmentectomies and 9 partial resections. The cancer types were 17 adenocarcinomas, 14 squamous cell carcinomas and 2 others. The stagings were 24 in stage I, 4 in stage II and 5 in stage III. There were no direct surgical deaths within 30 days post operatively. There have been 9 other disease-related deaths to date (27%). The non-surgery group consisted of 9 males and 6 females (81.7 +/- 1.5 years old). Treatment procedures consisted of radiationtherapy in 11, chemotherapy in 2 and best supportive care in 3. The cancer types were 2 adenocarcinomas, 11 squamous cell carcinomas and 2 others. The stagings were 7 in stage I, 4 in stage II and 4 in stage III. There have been 3 other disease-related deaths to date (20%). We must carefully select the therapeutic approach for elderly lung cancer patients, because the other disease-related death rates of both groups were high. The 5-year survival rate of stage I patients in the surgical group was relatively good (60.2%). There were long-term survival (7 5-year survivors) in the surgical group. Since there were some cases of radiation pneumonia in the group receiving radiation therapy, it would be better to perform surgery for elderly patients with lung cancer, especially those with stage I disease. For elderly patients, it is important to consider quality of life as well as the survival rate.