title: Adverse events among the elderly receiving chemotherapy for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe chemotherapy use and adverse events (AEs) for advanced-stage, non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in community practice, including descriptions according to variation by age.
  
  
  METHODS
  We interviewed patients with newly diagnosed, stages IIIB and IV NSCLC in the population-based cohort studied by the Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance Consortium, and we abstracted the patient medical records. AEs were medical events occurring during chemotherapy. Using logistic regression, we assessed the association between age and chemotherapy; with Poisson regression, we estimated event rate ratios and adjusted the analysis for age, sex, ethnicity, radiation therapy, stage, histology, and presence and grade of 27 comorbidities.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 1,371 patients, 58% (95% CI, 55% to 61%) received chemotherapy and 35% (95% CI, 32% to 38%) had AEs. After adjustment, 72% (95% CI, 65% to 79%) of those younger than 55 years and 47% (95% CI, 42% to 52%) of those age 75 years and older received chemotherapy. Platinum-based therapies were less common in the older-age groups. Pretreatment medical event rates were 18.6% for patients younger than 55 years and were only 9.2% for those age 75 years and older (adjusted rate ratio, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.26 to 0.91). In contrast, older adults were more likely to have AEs during chemotherapy. The adjusted rate ratios compared with age younger than 55 years were 1.70 for 65- to 74-year-olds (95% CI, 1.19 to 2.43) and 1.34 for those age 75 years and older (95% CI, 0.90 to 2.00).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Older patients who received chemotherapy had fewer pretherapy events than younger patients and were less likely to receive platinum-based regimens. Nevertheless, older patients had more adverse events during chemotherapy, independent of comorbidity. Potential implicit trade-offs between symptom management and treatment toxicity should be made explicit and additionally studied.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. e-chrischilles@uiowa.edu.
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Chrischilles
authors.forename: Jane F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Pendergast
authors.forename: Katherine L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Kahn
authors.forename: Robert B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.forename: Daniela C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Moga
authors.forename: David P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Harrington
authors.forename: Catarina I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Kiefe
authors.forename: Jane C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Weeks
authors.forename: Dee W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: West
authors.forename: S Yousuf
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Zafar
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Fletcher
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome