Seventeen lung cancer patients over 80 years of age were treated surgically at Kanazawa University Hospital from 1973 to 1991. The operative procedures were lobectomy (six patients), segmentectomy (seven patients), partial resection (three patients) and exploratory thoracotomy (one patient). Absolutely curative resection was done in two patients, relatively curative resection in two, relatively non-curative resection in ten, absolutely non-curative resection in two. The three-year survival rate after operation for all seventeen patients was 60.2%. Postoperative complication developed in eleven patients (64.7%). Patients who had lobectomy with mediastinal lymph node dissection had a high incidence of postoperative complications. In recent years, pulmonary resections have been performed in patients over 80 years of age who have been managed with pulmonary rehabilitation, resulting in better course. It is concluded that the limited resections produce good prognosis in patients over 80 years of age with lung cancer.