title: Chemotherapy Treatment of Elderly Patients (≥70 Years) with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Seven-Year Retrospective Study of Real-Life Clinical Practice at Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden.
abstract: An increasing proportion of cancer patients are aged >65 years and many are aged >70 years. Treatment of the elderly with lung cancer has, therefore, become an important issue; so we performed a retrospective study of our patients to demonstrate how elderly patients with NSCLC are treated in real-life, clinical practice. All patients aged ≥70 years with NSCLC at our department were reviewed retrospectively. In total, 1059 patients (50.8% of all NSCLC patients). Of these patients, 243 (22.9%) received chemotherapy, 164 (70.4%) of whom were treated with a platinum doublet using carboplatin. Second- and third-line chemotherapy were given to 31.4% and 13.9% of patients, respectively. Median overall survival was 289 and 320 days for male and female patients, respectively. Patients with performance status (PS) 0 experienced significantly better survival than patients with PS1 or PS 2: 410, 314, and 204 days, respectively. Age was of less importance, with patients aged 70-79 years versus those aged ≥80 years. Treatment of elderly NSCLC patients with chemotherapy is feasible if they have a good PS and appears to prolong survival. In this study, we found no significant differences in survival either between age groups or genders.
authors: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Gävle Hospital, 80187 Gävle, Sweden ; Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden ; Centre for Research and Development, Uppsala University, County Council of Gävleborg, Gävle, Sweden.
authors: Hirsh
authors: H
authors: Koyi
authors: Department of Respiratory Medicine and Allergy, Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Gunnar
authors: G
authors: Hillerdal
authors: Department of Respiratory Medicine and Allergy, Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Olov
authors: O
authors: Andersson
authors: Department of Respiratory Medicine and Allergy, Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Karl-Gustav
authors: KG
authors: Kölbeck
authors: Centre for Research and Development, Uppsala University, County Council of Gävleborg, Gävle, Sweden.
authors: Per
authors: P
authors: Liv
authors: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Gävle Hospital, 80187 Gävle, Sweden ; Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden ; Centre for Research and Development, Uppsala University, County Council of Gävleborg, Gävle, Sweden.
authors: Eva
authors: E
authors: Brandén