Published in:
01-09-2018 | Pulmonology and Respiratory Care (D Breen, Section Editor)
Lung Cancer in the Elderly—Important Considerations When Assessing Fitness for Treatment
Published in: Current Geriatrics Reports | Issue 3/2018
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Purpose of Review
Lung cancer is increasingly a disease of the elderly. Historically, the information on how best to treat these patients is scant, but over recent years, there have been increasing data to support both systemic and targeted treatment as would be offered to younger patients. This paper aims to summarise the considerations behind this.
Recent Findings
The introduction of a screening tool to help understand the overall health of patients will ensure that older cancer patients are considered for all active anti-cancer therapies. These geriatric assessment tools include several important domains such as nutrition, cognition, social support, comorbidities and performance status.
For those patients who may not be suitable for aggressive therapies such as surgical resection, lower morbid radical therapies such as SBRT or thermal ablation provides a useful alternative.
Summary
It is clear that in previous years, the elderly patient with lung cancer did not receive treatment comparable to younger patients. In the advent of modern diagnostic and therapeutic modalities, however, this approach is no longer sustainable. With careful selection of patients and optimisation, the elderly patient can now be offered similar treatments to improve survival in an ageing population.