Post-recurrence survival of elderly patients 75 years of age or older with surgically resected non-small cell lung cancer

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of elderly patients 75 years of age or older with recurrent non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods A total of 1237 consecutive patients with NSCLC underwent pulmonary resection at our institution. Of these patients, 280 experienced postoperative recurrence. The rate of the post-recurrence survival and predictors were analyzed independently in a group of younger patients (<75 years) and a group of elderly patients (>= 75 years). Results There were 215 younger patients (<75 years) and 65 elderly (>= 75 years) patients at the time of diagnosis of recurrence. The median post-recurrence survival time and the five-year survival rate of all cases were 25 months and 20.8 %, respectively. There were no significant survival differences between the younger and elderly groups (p = 0.20). A univariate analysis determined that gender, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, smoking status, histological type and epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status were factors influencing the post-recurrence survival among the elderly patients. In addition, a multivariate analysis determined the EGFR mutation status to be an independent prognostic factor for the post-recurrence survival. Conclusions Elderly patients 75 years of age or older in this study achieved satisfactory long-term outcomes.