[Lung cancer in the aged--with special reference to radiation therapy]

Frequent distributions of different histological diagnosis and stages of lung cancer patients were examined among 4 different age groups consisting of (1) older than 70 years old, (2) 69-65, (3) 64-60 and (4) younger than 60. All patients examined were male and their primary tumor had not been removed. The worst prognosis was found among the age group 69-65 years followed by the older than 70 years. Patients whose age was younger than 60 showed better prognosis. Elderly patients should be irradiated with about 10% smaller radiation field. When chemotherapy is combined with irradiation, radiation dose and field should be lower than with irradiation alone.