Less than half of patients ages 65 and older with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer received systemic treatment, according to a study published May 7 in JAMA Oncology.
Researchers from Charleston-based Medical University of South Carolina, Memphis, Tenn.-based Baptist Cancer Center, Aurora-based University of Colorado School of Medicine and the American Cancer Society used Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results program data and Medicare claims to analyze treatment rates of 254,611 patients ages 65 and older who were diagnosed with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer between January 2006 and December 2021.
Here are five things to know from the study:
- Only 46.8% of the 254,611 patients received systemic treatment during the study period.
- Only 13.2% of patients who died within 90 days of diagnosis received treatment, while 69% of patients who survived longer than 90 days received treatment.
- Referral to an oncology specialist and biomarker testing were associated with a higher likelihood of treatment within 180 days, at 30.3% and 17.8%, respectively.
- Compared to patients ages 65-69, patients older than 80 had a 15.4% lower incidence of treatment within 180 days.
- The proportion of patients who received treatment only increased “slightly between 2006 and 2021,” the study authors wrote.
Read the full study here.
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