Can I compare my research work with another work published many years ago?
Yes, certainly you can do this comparison. The time difference makes no difference whatever. 

However, since it has been a while in a fast changing field, you need to be sure that there haven't been advances since 2002 that you haven't considered and might make your work less valuable - even already obsolete. 

In mathematics, you can extend Euclid, if you have something new and interesting. But it has to be new by today's standards, not by his.