Michael Fanucchi, MD

Only a minority of elderly patientswith advanced non–small-cell lung cancer(NSCLC) have been offered palliativechemotherapy, as indicated by clinicalsurveys beginning in the 1980s.Lilenbaum’s thorough review of thetreatment of locally advanced and metastaticNSCLC studies in two specialpopulations (elderly and Eastern CooperativeOncology Group [ECOG]performance status [PS] 2 patients)highlights a new trend seen with theadvent of better-tolerated chemotherapyregimens.