Are we treating enough elderly patients with early stage non-small cell lung cancer?

Population-based patterns of treatment and survival for patients with stage I and II non-small cell lung cancer aged 65–74 years and 75 years or older

“…Patient involvement in treatment decision-making is important as almost half of patients with stage I-II NSCLC experience conflicts in treatment decision-making, and one in three patients feel uninformed [38]. This implies that not only patient or tumor characteristics should be taken into account to determine which treatment is the most optimal for each older individual, but patient-centered outcomes should be taken into account as well [39]. A recent study found that health utility, or summarized quality of life, was not significantly different between patients receiving surgery or SBRT for stage I NSCLC [40].…”

The influence of ageing on the development and management of rheumatoid arthritis

“…This problem faces many areas of medicine, including fields in which ageing is of particul ar relevance, such as rheumatology and oncology. 113,114…”

Demethoxycurcumin-Carrying Chitosan–Antibody Core–Shell Nanoparticles with Multitherapeutic Efficacy toward Malignant A549 Lung Tumor: From in Vitro Characterization to in Vivo Evaluation

“…Once such metastasis has begun to occur, surgery will unfortunately be largely inefficient. 4,6 In chemotherapeutic treatment, most anticancer drugs are associated with serious side effects as the drug will affect not only the cancer cells but also healthy cells in various organs. 7 In addition to side effects, a major concern when using current chemotherapeutic therapies is the common occurrence of multidrug resistant (MDR) cancer cells, for which the therapeutic index of the administrated drugs is largely reduced as a result of the drugs being pumped out of the cells prior to achieving intracellular therapeutic functions.…”

“…Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which is triggered by genetic and/or environmental factors, is the most prevalent form of lung cancer, accounting for about 80% of all cases. In the clinic, NSCLC has commonly been treated through surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or a combination thereof, depending on the stage of tumor progression. − For NSCLC in the stage I or II, surgery is performed to remove cancer tissue, followed by adjuvant therapies to improve outcomes. If the cancer has progressed to stage III or IV, most patients are treated with chemotherapeutic drugs and/or radiotherapy as cancer has invaded surrounding tissue and as cell metastasis may occur through the circulatory or lymphatic system.…”

“…If the cancer has progressed to stage III or IV, most patients are treated with chemotherapeutic drugs and/or radiotherapy as cancer has invaded surrounding tissue and as cell metastasis may occur through the circulatory or lymphatic system. Once such metastasis has begun to occur, surgery will unfortunately be largely inefficient. , …”