Clinico-pathological profile and survival pattern in elderly patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (nslc)

Background: More than 50% of new cases of lung cancer are diagnosed in elderly patients. Does age is a factor for deciding the treatment options? The question remains unsolved even in present era as the median survival time of elderly patients was significantly lower compared with that of younger patients. Methods: We conducted a cross sectional study using data base of 175 patients of primary lung cancer with age 60 years and above diagnosed in indoor and outdoor of the Department of Radiotherapy at Regional Cancer Centre, RIMS, Manipur, India from January 2011 to December 2015. Results: The median age at diagnosis was 70years. There were 113 male (64.6%) patients and 62 female (35.4%) patients. The most common radiological presentation was mass (59.4%) followed by collapse-consolidation (22.8%) and pleural effusion (17.8%). Out of 175 patients, 51% of patients had squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma (33.7%), large cell carcinoma (9.1%) and undifferentiated carcinoma (6%). The median overall survival in patients underwent chemotherapy alone was found to be 17 months, in patients undergone concomitant chemo-radiation was 23 months , in patients underwent radiotherapy alone 16 months, patients underwent targeted therapy 14 months and patients who received best supportive care was 5 months. Conclusion: Our results allow us to conclude that elderly patients with good performance status are likely to benefit from radical treatments. Concurrent chemo-radiation seems to increase median survival even in elderly population with advanced stage disease.