Chemotherapy of advanced non small cell lung cancer in the elderly: an update.

In the last years there has been a growing awareness in the oncological community about the size of the problem of cancer in the elderly. More than 30% of lung cancers arise in patients aged 70 years or more. Elderly patients tolerate chemotherapy poorly and are not considered eligible for aggressive cisplatin based chemotherapy in clinical practice. A few papers have been published on chemotherapy of elderly NSCLC patients. Cisplatin based chemotherapy seems to be tolerated poorly. Vinorelbine as a single agent showed active and good tolerance. A phase III randomized trial, named ELVIS (Elderly Lung Cancer Vinorelbine Italian Study), showed a survival and quality of life benefit of vinorelbine versus supportive care. Among the new drugs gemcitabine can be considered more promising. Future trials should attempt to improve the results of vinorelbine chemotherapy and include geriatric and quality of life evaluations.