Poster Presentation COSA 2015 ASM

Treatment Outcome for Elderly Patients with Non small cell  Lung Cancer (NSCLC) (#190)

Mohammed islam 1 , Jasotha Sanmugarajah 1 , Sophie Conroy 1 , Shivanshan Pathmanathan 1 , Robert Mason 1
  1. Gold Coast University Hospital, Southport, QLD, Australia

Treatment Outcome for Elderly Patients with Non small cell

 Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

 Sophie Conroy,  Shivanshan Pathmanathan,  Robert Mason,   Jasotha Sanmugarajah,

 Mohammed F Islam

Introduction:  Lung cancer is a leading cause of death.  40% of the patients with lung cancer are 70 years of age or older1.  Only 66% older adult with locally advanced  lung cancer  receive any cancer treatment and only 45% of  those treated receive a standard approach of combined chemo- radiotherapy2.  Enrolment rate of elderly patients into oncology trials are limited. We therefore conducted a retrospective study for this age group.

Aim:  The aim of the study is to evaluate chemotherapy related toxicities, Progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) for the patients with lung cancer who are at or above the age of 70.

Method:  We conducted a retrospective study for the elderly patients with NSCLC treated at Gold Coast University Hospital in last 5 years. Patients who had curative surgery or adjuvant chemotherapy were excluded

Result:  A total of 70 patients were included. 57 treated with palliative intent and 13 treated with curative intent. The commonest palliative regimen was Carboplatin and Gemcitabine (80%).  54.5% completed first line chemotherapy. 43% developed grad 3 or grad 4 toxicity, 10.5%had febrile neutropenia. 39 % required hospital admission.  Median PFS 125 days and OS 287 days. 7 patients still alive without progression.

Among the 13 patients who had concurrent chemoradiotherapy, commonest regimen was Carboplatin and Paclitaxel (84.62%).  84.62% completed the treatment. 46% patients had grad 3 or 4 toxicity. 23% patients had febrile neutropenia. Median PFS 211 days and OS 311 days. 7 patients still alive without progression.

Conclusion:  Elderly patients with NSCLC can be treated with standard chemotherapy and can achieve PFS and OS comparable to younger patient. Toxicity and hospital admission are higher, however proper geriatric assessment could reduce the adverse events.

References: 

1. JCO 25;5570-5577,2007

2. J Thorac Oncology 6; 934-941, 2011)