Lung cancer primarily occurs in the elderly with a median age at diagnosis in Denmark of 73 years. However, elderly patients are under-represented in clinical trials as well as in screening studies. In this study, we aim to characterize elderly patients with lung cancer and explore the diagnostic intensity, treatment patterns, and survival. Patients diagnosed with lung cancer between 2014 and 2017 according to the Danish Cancer Registry, and with clinical information in the Danish Lung Cancer Registry were included. Patient information was linked by the unique social identification number to information from Statistics Denmark. We included n = 17,835 patients in this study, of whom 2,871 (16.1 %) were 80 years or older. Fewer elderly patients had lung biopsies (47 % vs 53 %) or mediastinal procedures (34 % vs 26 %), compared to the younger patients (p < 0.001). Fewer elderly patients had treatment registration (60 % vs 85 %), and fewer received treatment with curative intent (23 % vs 42 %) compared to patients younger than 80 years (p < 0.001). The elderly patients had 2.1 (CI 95 % 1.9 – 2.2) times higher odds of dying within 12 months after diagnosis than younger patients. The diagnostic intensity among lung cancer patients aged eighty years or above is lower compared to younger patients. Being elderly is associated with not undergoing surgical treatment or treatment with curative intent. Across all treatment groups, being older than eighty years of age was associated with an adverse prognosis.

中文翻译：

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丹麦老年人患肺癌——一项基于人群的综合队列研究

肺癌主要发生在老年人中，丹麦诊断时的中位年龄为 73 岁。然而，老年患者在临床试验和筛选研究中的代表性不足。在这项研究中，我们的目的是描述老年肺癌患者的特征，并探讨诊断强度、治疗模式和生存率。纳入了 2014 年至 2017 年根据丹麦癌症登记处诊断为肺癌并具有丹麦肺癌登记处临床信息的患者。患者信息通过唯一的社会识别号码与丹麦统计局的信息相关联。本研究纳入了 17,835 名患者，其中 2,871 名 (16.1%) 为 80 岁或以上。与年轻患者相比，接受肺活检（47% vs 53%）或纵隔手术（34% vs 26%）的老年患者较少（p < 0.001）。与 80 岁以下的患者相比，登记治疗的老年患者较少（60% vs 85%），接受治疗性治疗的患者较少（23% vs 42%）（p < 0.001）。老年患者在诊断后 12 个月内死亡的几率比年轻患者高 2.1 (CI 95 % 1.9 – 2.2) 倍。与年轻患者相比，八十岁或以上肺癌患者的诊断强度较低。年老与不接受手术治疗或以治愈为目的的治疗有关。在所有治疗组中，八十岁以上与不良预后相关。