Lobar lung resection in elderly patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma: impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on surgical outcome.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on the perioperative morbidity and mortality after lobar lung resection for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients aged 70 years and older. The medical records of 73 patients≥70 years who underwent lobar lung resection for NSCLC from 2003 to 2013 at our department were reviewed retrospectively. There were 27 patients with a mean age of 73.6 years and mean predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) of 69.7% in the COPD group whereas remaining 46 patients (mean age=75.6 years) in the non-COPD group had a mean predicted FEV1 of 79.1%. There were no significant differences in perioperative morbidity (4.8% in the COPD group versus 17.4% in the non-COPD group) between both groups. We had no perioperative mortality in both groups. Lobar lung resection for NSCLC seems to be a safe therapy option for elderly patients with COPD who are fulfilling the common functional criteria of operability so that radical surgery should remain the mainstay of treatment for early-stage NSCLC in this increasing subpopulation.