Age alone is not a contraindication to potentially curative surgery. Staging is sometimes accomplished through mediastinoscopic or needle transtracheal lymph node sampling. If the tumor is found to extend to the mediastinum, the disease is considered incurable and surgery is not beneficial. Curative surgical treatment for non-small cell lung cancer may be considered for patients with stage I or II disease. The success of lung cancer resection, the choice of adjuvant therapy, and prognosis for resected non-small cell lung cancer depend on the extent of metastases.
Mortality is at least partially dependent on the operation performed.
Elderly cigarette smokers, who are most likely to develop lung cancer, commonly have coronary artery disease and ventilatory obstruction as well, thus increasing the risk of surgery. Cure with chemotherapy is rare. Length of survival may be improved with chemotherapy, but quality of life may be compromised by significant adverse effects of treatment. Thus elderly patients must weigh the same considerations as must younger patients. Response rates to treatment for advanced lung cancer are similar across age groups.