This prospective cohort study is to observe the effects of the tradiotional Chinese medicine treatment based on Yiqi Chutan method in prolonging survival time of elderly patients with advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC)，to search a regimen for old NSCLC.Methods：A prospective cohort study was carried out in 13 clinical centers.315 cases of eldly patients （PS≤2）with III/IV stage of NSCLC were enrolled into two group according to the treatment the patients acceived，that is，Study Group I(TCM) was treated with Chinese herbal decoction based on Yiqi Chutan method，Study Group II(chemotherapy) with chemotherapy.Data analyses were performed using SPSS for windows Ver16.0 software.Long-term therapeutic effect was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier statistical method.Results：With a median follow-up of 16 months after treatment，the median survival(MST) was 385 days in Group I，305 days in Group II（P=0.331）.The median TTP of Group II or I was 114 days and 116.5 days respectively（P=0.452）.For those without chemotherapy before enrolment，the MST was 477 days vs 264 days（P=0.308）.While for those with chemotherapy before enrolment，the MST was 477 days and 264 days respectively（P=0.025）.Stratified analysis showed that for patients with squamous cell carcinoma，adenocarcinoma or other pathological type，the MST was 267 days vs 389 days（P=0.042），428 days vs 234 days（P=0.150） and 287 days vs 146 days （P=0.050） respectively.Conclusion：The tradiotional Chinese medicine treatment based on Yiqi Chutan method is an effective alternative treatment options for elderly patients with III/IV stage of stage NSCLC，the effect of which in prolonging survival time is equal to or more better than that of chemotherapy.The tradiotional Chinese medicine treatment may be bemore helpful than chemotherapy as a better survival advantage according to Stratified analysis，which conclusions need longer follow-up time and further studies.