Cancer Research Lab

Recent studies that have defined the benefits of chemotherapy in older patients with metastatic lung cancer indicate that the use of single agent therapy is well justified, according to a review by Minnesota-based researchers. However, more information is required on treatment for non-small cell lung cancer in this group of patients.

“Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States, and it is becoming a major cause of morbidity and mortality among older Americans,” study co-author Dr. Aminah Jatoi told Reuters Health. “There is a growing need for research on how best to treat lung cancer in the elderly.”

In the January issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, Dr. Jatoi and Dawn Aranguren of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester point out that the median patient age at the time of diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer is 68 years.

Today, they note, “medical oncologists are grappling with the problem of lung cancer in older patients more than ever before, and they will likely continue to do so in years to come.”

Re-analysis of data in the literature, they add, suggests that older patients with cancer do almost as well as their younger counterparts when treated with conventional cancer therapy. Moreover, there is evidence that those who participate in elderly-specific trials suffer lower rates of severe adverse events with comparable survival to that in younger patients.

However, many of the 295 ongoing trials in non-small cell lung cancer, as listed on the National Cancer Institute’s Physician Data Query Database in 2006, have an upper age limit that specifically and intentionally excludes older patients with lung cancer. In addition, only 8 of the trials restrict eligibility to elderly patients.

“Although the fundamental role of chemotherapy in treating select older patients with non-small cell lung cancer has been established, further research in this field promises to provide a major favorable impact on patient care,” the investigators conclude.