Impact of pre-operative inflammatory markers on overall and disease-free survival of octogenarian patients undergoing video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy for early-stage lung cancer: a multicenter study

Background: The proportion of octogenarian patients who undergo surgery for lung cancer is growing over recent years. Elderly patients are characterized by age-related changes, such as inflammatory modifications of the lower respiratory tract, responsible for structural and functional alterations and tumor progression. Inflammatory markers (IMs) are a well-known prognostic factor in several tumor types, but they have not been analyzed extensively in octogenarian patients submitted to thoracoscopic lobectomy for early-stage lung cancer. The aim of our study is to assess the impact of the pre-operative IMs on the overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and post-operative complications of this subset of patients. Methods: We conducted a retrospective and multi-institutional study. All octogenarian patients submitted to thoracoscopic lobectomy for early-stage lung cancer from January 2013 to April 2019 were enrolled. Preoperative cellular IMs were measured in peripheral blood s...