2009 Volume 49 Issue 2 Pages 162-166
Objective. To perform a retrospective analysis of chemotherapy for elderly patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in order to evaluate treatment efficacy and toxicity. Methods. We performed a retrospective analysis of 24 patients aged 70 years or more with advanced NSCLC who received chemotherapy from June 2003 to December 2006. Results. The median age was 75 years (range, 70-88). Twenty-four patients received a total of 50 cycles of chemotherapy; 76% (38 of 50 cycles) of which chemotherapies were platinum-based doublet regimens. The regimen of almost all combined chemotherapy patients consisted of carboplatin and paclitaxel. The overall response rate was 17% and disease control rate was 79%. The median survival time (MST) was 15.6 months. Although grade 3/4 neutropenia was observed in 58% of the patients, other toxicities were generally mild. Conclusion. Platinum-based doublet was used in 76% of the 24 elderly patients with advanced NSCLC. Although grade 3/4 neutropenia was observed in 58% of the patients, it was controllable. Chemotherapy performed in the present series was found generally safe. The observed 15.6 month MST was acceptable.
