title: Carbon ion radiotherapy for elderly patients 80 years and older with stage I non-small cell lung cancer.
abstract: Surgical resection is the standard treatment for stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, elderly patients with NSCLC often suffer from other conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or cardiovascular disease, and are not suitable candidates for surgery. Different modalities to treat stage I NSCLC have been developed, such as stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT), proton beam radiotherapy and carbon ion radiotherapy (CIRT). Between April 1999 and November 2003, we treated 129 patients with stage I NSCLC using CIRT. In this study, we focused on 28 patients aged 80 years and older who underwent CIRT, and analyzed the effectiveness of CIRT in treating their lung cancer and the impact on their activity of daily life (ADL). The 5-year local control rate for these patients was 95.8%, and the 5-year overall survival rate was 30.7%, but there were no patients who started home oxygen therapy or had decreased ADL. Our data demonstrate that CIRT was effective in treating elderly patients with stage I NSCLC.
authors.affiliation: Research Center Hospital for Charged Particle Therapy, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sugane
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.forename: Reiko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Imai
authors.forename: Mio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Naoyoshi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Tadaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.forename: Hidefumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ezawa
authors.forename: Kyousan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kandatsu
authors.forename: Tadashi
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authors.lastname: Kamada
authors.forename: Junetsu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mizoe
authors.forename: Hirohiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsujii