[Results of surgical therapy of bronchial carcinoma in advanced age]

Surgery is the treatment of choice in patients with non-small cell lung cancer stages I-IIIA. This is not restricted to younger patients, it may also be true for elderly ones. 6907 patients suffering bronchial carcinoma were analysed at the Thoraxklinik Heidelberg-Rohrbach (10/1984-12/1994). 2464 patients underwent resection of bronchial carcinoma. The age distribution was as follows: 0-64 years (n = 1734), 65-74 years (n = 662), 75-85 years (n = 67), older than 85 years (n = 1). Lobectomy was the most common type of resection for all patients. The frequency of pneumonectomy was lower in older patients, while the relative proportion of segmental resections was higher. The 30-day mortality was 6% for patients younger than 64 years and 10% for patients older than 65 years. For the latter group, the 5-year-survival probability was 44% for the combined p-stages I and II, and 19% for p-stage IIIA. In conclusion, the results indicate that, under the condition of a precise preoperative risk-to-benefit evaluation, surgical treatment of bronchial carcinoma is also indicated for elderly patients.