Although fewer of them undergo surgery, lung cancer patients in their 80s fare equally well following surgery as their younger counterparts, researchers report. The findings offer doctors potentially valuable guidance in treatment options for elderly patients, according to researchers.

A research team from the Hoag Cancer Center in Newport Beach, California, observed 1,293 patients with lung cancer, 482 of whom underwent surgical treatment. The oldest patients were more likely to be male. Older patients were also more likely to have localized disease.

Overall, the rate of surgery did not differ by age group. However, when primary lung cancer was considered separately, only 31.7 percent of patients older than 80 underwent surgery for their primary lung cancer compared with 38.5 percent of patients younger than 80. For patients with non-small cell lung cancer, the rate of surgery was 64 percent for those older than 80 and 83 percent for those younger than 80. For patients with regionally advanced disease, the rate of surgery for patients age 80 or older was 35 percent compared with 49 percent for those younger than 80 years old.

The five-year survival rate following surgery was 62 percent for those patients older than 80 compared with 53 percent for those aged 70 to 79 years. Among patients age 60 to 69 years and 50 to 59 years, the survival rate was 63 percent. For the youngest patients, those younger than 50, the survival rate was 79 percent.

"Although a smaller proportion of patients over the age of 80 underwent this type of surgery, their survival rate was comparable to the younger age groups," said lead author Robert O. Dillman, M.D., medical director of the Hoag Cancer Center in Newport Beach, California.

Surgical resection and survival in octogenarians and younger age cohorts of patients diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer
Abstract 5537

This was presented at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes nearly 27,000 basic, translational, and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 70 other countries. AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment, and patient care. AACR publishes five major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Its most recent publication and its sixth major journal, Cancer Prevention Research, is the only journal worldwide dedicated exclusively to cancer prevention, from preclinical research to clinical trials. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors, patient advocates, their families, physicians, and scientists. CR provides a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship, and advocacy.

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