Early-stage non-small cell lung cancer beyond life expectancy: still not too old for surgery?

Abstract Objective We investigated on the benefit/risk ratio of surgery in octogenarians with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) Material and methods From 2005 to 2020, 100 octogenarians were operated on for a clinical stage IA to IIA NSCLC. All patients had undergone whole body PET -scan and brain imaging. Operability was assessed according to current guidelines regarding the cardiopulmonary function. Since 2015, patients followed a dedicated geriatric evaluation pathway. Minimally invasive approaches were used in 66 patients, and a thoracotomy in 34. Results Clavien-Dindo grade ≥ 4 complications occurred in 15 patients within 90 days, including 7 fatalities. At multivariable analysis, the number of co-morbidities was their single independent prognosticator. Following resection, 24 patients met pathological criteria for adjuvant therapy among whom 3 (12.5%) received platinum-based chemotherapy. Five-year survival rates were overall (OS) 47 ± 6.3 %, disease-free (DFS) 77.6 ± 5.1 %, and lung cancer-specific (CSS) 74.7 ± 6.3%. Diabetes mellitus impaired significantly long-term outcomes in these 3 dimensions. OS was improved since the introduction of a dedicated geriatric assessment pathway (72.3% vs. 6.4%, P = 0.00002), and when minimally invasive techniques were used (42.3% vs. 11.3%; P = 0.02). CSS was improved by the performance of systematic lymphadenectomy (55.3% vs. 26.9%; P = 0.04). Multivariable and recursive partitioning analyses showed that a decision tree could be built to predict overall survival on the basis of diabetes mellitus, high co-morbidity index and low ppoDLCO values. Conclusions The introduction of a dedicated geriatric assessment pathway to select octogenarians for lung cancer surgery was associated with OS values that are similar to outcomes in younger patients. The use of minimally invasive surgery and the performance of systematic lymphadenectomy were also associated with improved long-term survival. Octogenarians with multiple co-morbid conditions, diabetes mellitus, or low ppo DLCO values may be more appropriately treated with SBRT.