Is Chemotherapy Underutilized in the Elderly?

Abstract

Aging HealthVol. 3, No. 2 EditorialIs chemotherapy underutilized in the elderly?Catherine M Weber & Gilbert B ZulianCatherine M WeberUniversity Hospitals of Geneva, Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, Centre of Continuous Care, 11 chemin de la Savonnière, CH-1245 Collonge-Bellerive, Switzerland. Search for more papers by this authorEmail the corresponding author at gilbert.zulian@hcuge.ch & Gilbert B Zulian† Author for correspondenceUniversity Hospitals of Geneva, Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, Centre of Continuous Care, 11 chemin de la Savonnière, CH-1245 Collonge-Bellerive, Switzerland. Search for more papers by this authorEmail the corresponding author at gilbert.zulian@hcuge.chPublished Online:28 Mar 2007https://doi.org/10.2217/1745509X.3.2.135AboutSectionsView ArticleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail View articleBibliography1 Fentiman I, Tirelli U, Monfardini S et al.: Why are elderly cancer patients badly treated? Lancet335,1020–1022 (1990).Crossref, Medline, CAS, Google Scholar2 Bernardi D, Errante D, Tirelli U, Salvagno L, Bianco A, Fentiman IS: Insight into the treatment of cancer in older patients: developments in the last decade. Cancer Treat. Rev.32,277–288 (2006).Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar3 Yancik R, Ries LA: Aging and cancer in America. Demographic and epidemiologic perspectives. Hematol. Oncol. Clin. North Am.14,17–23 (2000).Crossref, Medline, CAS, Google Scholar4 Maxwell Parkin D: Global cancer statistics in the year 2000. Lancet Oncol.2,533–543 (2001).Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar5 Bouchardy C, Rapiti E, Fioretta G et al.: Undertreatment strongly decreases prognosis of breast cancer in elderly women. J. Clin. Oncol.21,3580–3587 (2003).Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar6 Walter LC, Covinsky KE: Cancer screening in elderly patients: a framework for individualized decision making. JAMA285,2750–2756 (2001).Crossref, Medline, CAS, Google Scholar7 Hutchins LF, Unger JM, Crowley JJ, Coltman CA Jr, Albain KS: Underrepresentation of patients 65 years of age or older in cancer-treatment trials. N. Engl. J. Med.341,2061–2067 (1999).Crossref, Medline, CAS, Google Scholar8 Kemeny MM, Peterson BL, Kornblith AB et al.: Barriers to clinical trial participation by older women with breast cancer. J. Clin. Oncol.21,2268–2275 (2003).Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar9 Extermann M, Albrand G, Chen H et al.: Are older French patients as willing as older American patients to undertake chemotherapy? J. Clin. Oncol.21,3214–3219 (2003).Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar10 Feugier P, Van Hoof A, Sebban C et al.: Long-term results of the R-CHOP study in the treatment of elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a study by the Groupe d’Etude des Lymphomes de l’Adulte. J. Clin. Oncol.23,4117–4126 (2005).Crossref, Medline, CAS, Google Scholar11 Pfreundschuh M, Trumper L, Kloess M et al.: Two-weekly or 3-weekly CHOP chemotherapy with or without etoposide for the treatment of elderly patients with aggressive lymphomas: results of the NHL-B2 trial of the DSHNHL. Blood104(3),634–641 (2004).Crossref, Medline, CAS, Google Scholar12 Muggia FM: Relevance of chemotherapy dose and schedule to outcomes in ovarian cancer. Semin. Oncol.31(6 Suppl. 15),19–24 (2004).Crossref, Medline, CAS, Google Scholar13 Twelves C, Wong A, Nowacki MP et al.: Capecitabine as adjuvant treatment for Stage III colon cancer. N. Engl. J. Med.352,2696–2704 (2005).Crossref, Medline, CAS, Google Scholar14 Arriagada R, Bergman B, Dunant A, Pignon JP, Vansteenkiste J: Cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with completely resected non-small-cell lung cancer. The International Adjuvant Lung Cancer Trial Collaborative. N. Engl. J. Med.350,351–360 (2004).Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar15 Crivellari D, Bonetti M, Castiglione-Gertsch M et al.: Burdens and benefits of adjuvant cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil and tamoxifen for elderly patients with breast cancer: the International Breast Cancer Study Group Trial VII. J. Clin. Oncol.18,1412–1422 (2000).Crossref, Medline, CAS, Google Scholar16 Burdette-Radoux S, Muss HB: Adjuvant chemotherapy in the elderly: whom to treat, what regimen? Oncologist11,234–242 (2006).Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar17 Extermann M, Aapro M, Bernabei R et al.: Use of comprehensive geriatric assessment in older cancer patients: recommendations from the task force on CGA of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG). Crit. Rev. Oncol. Hematol.55,241–252 (2005).Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar18 Lichtman SM: Chemotherapy in the elderly. Aging Health3(2),165–175 (2007).Link, CAS, Google ScholarFiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 3, No. 2 Follow us on social media for the latest updates Metrics Downloaded 39 times History Published online 28 March 2007 Published in print April 2007 Information© Future Medicine LtdPDF download