LONG-TERM PROGNOSIS OF SURGERY OF BRONCHO GENIC CANCER IN THE ELDERLY

Surgery is the treatment of choice in patients with non-small cell lun g cancer stages I-IIIA. This is not restricted to younger patients, it may also be true for elderly ones. 6907 patients suffering bronchial carcinoma were analysed at the Thoraxklinik Heidelberg-Rohhrbach (10/1 984-12/1994). 2464 patients underwent resection of bronchial carcinoma . The age distribution was as follows: 0-64 years (n=1734), 65-74 year s (n=662), 75-85 years (n=67), older than 85 years (n=1). Lobectomy wa s the most common type of resection for all patients. The frequency of pneumonectomy was lower in older patients, while the relative proport ion of segmental resections was higher. The 30-day mortality was 6% fo r patients younger than 64 years and 10% for patients older than 65 ye ars. For the latter group, the 5-year survival probability was 44% for the combined p-stages I and II, and 19% for p-stage IIIA. In conclusi on, the results indicate that, under the condition of a precise preope rative risk-to-benefit evaluation, surgical treatment of bronchial car cinoma is also indicated for elderly patients.