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Platinum-doublet chemotherapy has been shown to confer a survival advantage in fit patients with non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, whether such benefits apply to older patients is unclear, given that they are often excluded from clinical trials.
To examine this issue, investigators used the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database to identify 21,285 patients ≥65 with advanced NSCLC diagnosed between 1997 and 2002. More than one third of patients had one or more indicators of poor performance status. Overall, nearly one third of patients received chemotherapy; two thirds received a platinum-doublet regimen.
Patients who received any chemotherapy achieved longer survival (7.1 vs. 2.5 months) an…