Lung Cancer News, Updates: Older Patients Live Longer After Surgery

There is hope for older people with lung cancer. A new study made online in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery has found that lung cancer patients that are aged 65 years and older live longer after undergoing lung cancer.

The study involved the records of 37,009 lung cancer patients aged 65 years and older and operated on from 2002 and 2012. Claims data were also examined. The researchers were able to link records of 26,055 patients including hospital readmission, rates, reinterventions and long-term survival, according to Science Daily. 

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Lung Cancer To Increase As Population Ages

After undergoing surgery for lung cancer in its early stages, the median survival for the patients was 6.7 years, Web MD reported. The benchmark survival rate is five years. There was 30 percent five-year survival rate for those with stage 3 lung cancer after surgery while it was 27 percent for those who were operated on when they had stage 4 lung cancer.

Study author Dr. Felix Fernandez said that the survival rate is remarkable "especially considering that the prevalence of lung cancer is expected to increase as the population continues to grow older and more people survive into old age." Fernandez is from Emory Clinic in Atlanta.

Findings to Assist in Lung Cancer Treatment

News-Medical said that lung cancer is dominated by patients who are old. However, old people are often underrepresented in clinical trials involving lung cancer.

"This research effort is important because it will assist in recommending effective, optimal treatments tailored specifically to older patients with lung cancer," Fernandez said. Fernandez added that the study comes at a period when there is an expectation of more older people as lung cancer patients. 

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