Analysis of complications and outcomes after pulmonary resection in patients aged 80 years or over with non-small cell lung cancer / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the therapeutic effect and degree of safety in patients aged 80 years or over with non-small cell lung cancer undergoing radical resection. Methods A retrospective survey of 97 elder patients aged 80 years or over, in whom non-small cell lung cancer was pathologically confirmed after partial resection of the lung in Chinese PLA General Hospital from Jan. 2003 to Dec. 2012. The peri-operative features were evaluated, including gender, age, history of smoking, pulmonary function, surgical procedure, histopathologic type, pathologic stage, etc. The relation of the postoperative complications and mortality with the factors mentioned above was analyzed. Results Among all patients, the surgical procedure comprised 36 lobectomies, 31 segmentectomies, and 30 wedge resections. The histopathologic diagnosis showed there were adenocarcinoma in 51 patients, squamous cell carcinoma in 29, large cell carcinoma in 9, adenosquamous cell carcinoma in 6 and neuro-endocrine cell carcinomas in 2. The disease stage was determined as I A in 55 cases, I B in 33, IIA in 7, III A in 2. The post-operative complications (POC) occurred in 14 of 97 patients (14.4%), and the most common complication was cardiovascular complication (9 cases), followed by pulmonary complication (5 cases). Only two patients died to the complications, one of them was post-operative pneumonia and respiratory failure, and the other one was acute myocardial infarction. The survival rate of the 97 patients was 91.7%, 70.2% and 52.8% at 1, 3 and 5 years, respectively, and in the patients with stage I disease, the survival rate was 93.9%, 73.6% and 54.1%, respectively. Conclusion Advanced age is not a contraindication to radical pulmonary resection in patients over 80 years old suffering from early stage non-small cell lung cancer.