Clinical Characteristics of Patients Older than 76 with Lung Cancer

Jung, Sun Young; Park, Dong Il; Park, Myoung Rin; Jung, Sung Soo; Kim, Ju Ock; Kim, Sun Young; Lee, Jeong Eun

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
A significant proportion of elderly patients who have lung cancer do not receive treatment even though they may benefit from it. The aims of this study were to analyze the clinical characteristics of elderly patients with lung cancer, especially those aged 76 years and older.
METHODS
In this retrospective study, we analyzed clinical data from 341 patients with lung cancer who were diagnosed at Chungnam National University Hospital from January 2003 to September 2010.
RESULTS
The median age of patients was 79 years (76-91), and 39.6% (n = 135) of the total sample were older than 80. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most common type of lung cancer, and the performance status (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group [ECOG] 0-1) of 40.6% (n = 116) of the sample was good. Of the 293 non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, 53.6% were untreated. About 68% of all patients knew about their disease (n = 232).
CONCLUSIONS
Our data indicated that many elderly patients with lung cancer were undertreated. Elderly patients with lung cancer should receive education to help them understand their disease and to encourage them to receive appropriate treatment.