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Non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) occurs predominantly in older patients. However, elders often are treated less aggressively than younger patients, because their healthcare providers fear high chemotherapy morbidity rates due to comorbid diseases and low physiologic reserves. Lack of elder participation in clinical trials and lack of adequate baseline assessment of comorbidities in randomized trials have hampered efforts to clarify the relative risks and benefits of aggressive treatment in this population. In this report, the authors analyzed 1255 participants in two large randomized NSCLC treatment trials to assess the effects of age and comorbidities on outcomes.
In one trial, researchers compared carboplatin with paclitaxel with or with…