Characteristics of lung cancer in the elderly.

In order to define the characteristics of lung cancer in the elderly, 260 patients with lung cancer were retrospectively analyzed according to their age group; group A = < or = 49 years (n = 19), group B = 50-69 years (n = 152), and group C = > or 70 years (n = 89). The ratio of male to female increased with age from 1.4 (group A), 3.9 (group B) to 7.1 (group C). In males, the percentage of squamous cell carcinoma increased from 18% in group A, 30% in group B to 54% in group C. Conversely, in females adenocarcinoma was constantly high for all groups (100%, 71%, 91%). There was no significant difference in the distribution of the clinical stage of the disease among the three groups. The percentage of patients undergoing surgery was lowest for group C with 15% compared to the two other groups with 32% and 28%, respectively. Conversely, the percentage of patients receiving only the best supportive care was highest for group C with 24% (0% in group A, 10% in group B). The prognosis for the patients in group C was significantly poorer than for the other groups; median survival time was 12.5, 10.0 and 7.0 months, with a 3-year survival rate (%) of 7.8, 19.4 and 6.3% in groups A, B, and C, respectively. Male and squamous cell type were characteristic of lung cancer in the elderly, apparently supporting the idea that cigarette smoking plays a role in lung carcinogenesis, and the necessity of early establishment of an optimal therapeutic strategy for lung cancer in the elderly was indicated.