Outcomes after thoracoscopic surgery in octogenarian patients with clinical N0 non-small-cell lung cancer

The number of surgeries for elderly patients with lung cancer is increasing. In our institute, thoracoscopic lobectomy and hilar lymph node dissection are the standard procedure for octogenarian patients with clinical N0 non-small-cell lung cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the outcome of our strategy for octogenarian patients.

Seventy octogenarian patients with clinical N0 non-small-cell lung cancer who underwent surgery were enrolled (O group). As a control group, 205 septuagenarian patients were also enrolled (S group). We compared several clinicopathological factors and outcomes.

The median age of the O group was 82. There was no significant difference in the comorbidity ratio between the two groups. The 5-year overall survival ratio for the O group (72.8%) was significantly worse than that for the S group (88.3%). However, multivariate analysis proved age was not an independent predictor of outcome. The rates of recurrences involving ipsilateral mediastinal lymph nodes were equal in the two groups. After propensity score matching, clinical T1 patients were dominant (85%) in two matched group and no statistically significant differences were observed in the 5-year overall survival between the two groups.

Our strategy for octogenarian patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, including omission of mediastinal lymph node dissection, was determined to be feasible, in particularly with cT1N0 disease.