Smoking habits in elderly lung cancer patients: still no changes in epidemiology? A single-center experience

Our goal was to describe the clinical, histological, and epidemiological characteristics of lung cancer diagnoses in people ≥70 years of age.

Information on patients diagnosed with lung cancer from January 2006 to February 2008 was prospectively collected from the outpatient oncology department at a regional hospital. A total of 83 patients (97.6% men; mean age 77 years) were studied. There was a higher ratio of men to women than that reported in younger populations. Mean age was higher than that reported for randomized studies: 65.1% were ≥75 years old. Patients >80 years constituted 28.9% of the study population. Most patients (96.4%) had a history of smoking; they were predominantly former smokers (72.5% vs. 27.5%).

The most common histological types were squamous cell (61.3%) and small cell (14.5%) carcinoma. Metastasis was present in 36.1% of patients. Stage was significantly associated with survival (logrank p < 0.001). There was no association between age and survival. Squamous cell lung cancer was associated with a better survival (p = 0.003).

Elderly lung cancer patients who attended clinical practice were older than those included in prospective studies. The predominance of men and squamous cell carcinoma is associated with a smoking history. The epidemiological and histological patterns of younger patients have changed, possibly in relation to changes in smoking habits. The translation of these changes to elderly patients will be evidenced in the future. Only prospective epidemiologic studies will determine whether smoking habits are changing epidemiology in elderly lung cancer patients.