Evaluating the role of advanced age and risk factors in postoperative outcomes following major lung cancer resection.

Hintergrund The average age of patients diagnosed with lung cancer is about 70 years old, and the incidence of lung cancer increases with age. It is believed that older patients are prone to complications after major lung resection due to age-related physiological changes and comorbidities, however, the evidence for this remains unclear. The study aimed to identify whether the postoperative complication rate increases with age in lung cancer patients. The second goal was to identify predictors of postoperative complications in the era of minimally invasive surgery.

Material und Methode We retrospectively analyzed 180 consecutive patients with pathologically proven lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Based on the age on admission, patients were categorized into septuagenarians and octogenarians. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to detect risk factors of postoperative morbidity. The receiver operating characteristic curve was generated to determine the diagnostic efficacy of these risk factors.

Ergebnis There were 141 (78.33 %) and 39 patients (21.67 %) in septuagenarian group and octogenarian group respectively. 67 (37.2 %) patients experienced postoperative complications. The 30-day mortality rate was 1.6 %. There was no difference in postoperative morbidity among the groups. According to multivariate analysis, ECOG score ³ 1 (p = 0.032), lower FEV1/FVC (p = 0.029), and hypoalbuminemia (p = 0.027) appeared to be predictors for the development of major complications after lung cancer surgery.

Schlussfolgerung Age more than 80 years was not found to be significant for the development of complications after lung cancer surgery. Hypoalbuminemia is one of the predictors of major postoperative morbidities.

Publication History

Article published online:
25 August 2025