• Andrea Dell'Amore, Marco Monteverde, Nicola Martucci, Stefano Sanna, Guido Caroli, Giampiero Dolci, Davide Dell'Amore, and Gaetano Rocco.
• Thoracic Surgery Unit, S.Orsola Malpighi University Hospital, Via Massarenti 9, Bologna, Italy, dellamore76@libero.it.
• Gen Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2015 Apr 1; 63 (4): 222-30.

ObjectivesConsensus exists as to the concept that surgical therapy should not be denied based on older age alone. Elderly lung cancer patients with multiple morbidities are increasingly referred for surgical care. The aim of this study was to evaluate the surgical outcomes and the long-term survival in octogenarians with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer.MethodsBetween January 2000 and December 2010, we identified 73 octogenarians who underwent intended curative lung resection for lung cancer in three different thoracic surgery departments. Two surgical groups were defined: patients who underwent lobar resection (group A) and patients who underwent sub-lobar resection (group B).ResultsThe in-hospital mortality was 2.7% without difference between groups. Group B had a lower incidence of post-operative complications, in particular respiratory complications. Chronic renal failure, multi pre-operative comorbidities and type of resection were risk factors for post-operative morbidity. After a mean follow-up time of 63.8 months, the overall survival at 1, 3 and 5 years was 96, 83 and 60%, respectively. The low-respiratory reserve was associated with worse long-term survival. The intra-operative and post-operative factors able to influence survival were: the cN status, recurrence of disease and local versus systemic recurrence. The type of operation did not influence survival.ConclusionsIn our experience, surgery is a safe and justifiable option for octogenarian patients with early stage NSCLC. Sublobar resection provides an equivalent in-hospital mortality and long-term survival in comparison with open lobectomy but with less postoperative morbidity. Further large-scale randomized studies are necessary to confirm our results.

30 keywords...

hide…