Minervini F, Kocher GJ, Bertoglio P, Kestenholz PB, Gálvez Muñoz C, Patrini D, Ceulemans LJ, Begum H, Lutz J, Shojai M, Shargall Y, Scarci M. Pneumonectomy for lung cancer in the elderly: lessons learned from a multicenter study.
J Thorac Dis 2021;
13:5835-5842. [PMID:
34795932 PMCID:
PMC8575851 DOI:
10.21037/jtd-21-869]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Background
60% of patients diagnosed with lung cancer are older than 65 years and are at risk for substandard treatment due to a reluctance to recommend surgery. Pneumonectomy remains a high risk procedure especially in elderly patients. Nevertheless, the impact of age and neoadjuvant treatment on outcomes after pneumonectomy is still not well described.
Methods
We performed a multicentric retrospective study, analyzing outcomes of patients older than 70 years who underwent pneumonectomy for central primary lung malignancy between January 2009 and June 2019 in 7 thoracic surgery departments: Lucerne and Bern (Switzerland), Hamilton (Canada), Alicante (Spain), Monza (Italy), London (UK), Leuven (Belgium). Survival was estimated with Kaplan-Meier, and differences in survival were determined by log-rank analysis. We investigated pre- and post-operative prognostic factors using Cox proportional hazards regression model; multivariable analysis was performed only with variables, which were statistically significant at the invariable analysis.
Results
A total of 136 patients were included in the study. Mean age was 73.8 years (SD 3.6). 24 patients (17.6%) had an induction treatment (chemotherapy alone in 15 patients and chemo-radiation in 9). Mean length of stay (LOS) was 12.6 days (SD 10.39) and 74 patients (54.4%) had experienced a post-operative complication: 29 (21.3%) had a pulmonary complication, 33 (24.3%) had a cardiac complication and in 12 cases (8.8%) patients experienced both cardiac and pulmonary complications. 16 patients were readmitted [median LOS 13.7 days (range, 2–39 days)] and of those 14 (10.3%) required redo surgery. Median overall survival (OS) of the entire cohort was 38 months (95% CI: 29.9–46.1 months); in-hospital mortality was 1.5%, 30-day mortality rate was 3.7%, while 90-day mortality was 8.8% accounting for 5 and 12 patients respectively. Patients receiving neo-adjuvant therapy did not experience a higher incidence of postoperative complications (P=0.633), did not have a longer postoperative course (P=0.588), nor did they have an increased mortality rate (P=0.863).
Conclusions
Age should not be considered an absolute contraindication for pneumonectomy in elderly patients even after neoadjuvant treatment. It has become apparent that especially in these patients, a patient-tailored approach with a careful selection should be used to define the risk-benefit balance.
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