Lung cancer is a typical disease seen in many elderly people. In fact, in the United States, lung cancer is presumed to be the leading cause of cancer deaths. Lung cancer is equally present in women and men.
Lung cancer among the elderly is primarily of two types. One is small cell lung cancer and the other type is known as non-small cell lung cancer. It is quite common for elderly to be diagnosed with lung cancer much later in life and the elderly prognosis was not very good earlier. This is because the elderly were under treated because many doctors felt that because of the patient's age he would not be able to tolerate cancer treatments like chemotherapy.
Earlier chemotherapy was not used as frequently in elderly patients suffering from lung cancer. However, a lot of research has been conducted on lung cancer and elderly prognosis. These studies have shown that there is no connection between lung cancer and disease. That is why many doctors from the medical fraternity now feel that chemotherapy should not be withheld as a treatment option just because of the person's age.Now it is very clear that many elderly people with lung cancer can tolerate the treatment regimen and benefit from it. The survival rate of elderly patients with lung cancer has increased after a change in the way elderly treatment is meted out and now many are living longer after being diagnosed and successfully treated for the lung cancer. Evidence clearly shows that elderly people can tolerate surgery, chemotherapy and aggressive radiotherapy provided they are in good shape otherwise.
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