Geriatric Oncology - Origin

Origin

While anyone can develop cancer, the risk of getting the disease increases with age. Certain cancers, in particular, are linked to aging, such as breast, colorectal, prostate, pancreatic, lung, bladder and stomach cancers.

For many reasons, older adults (generally age 70 and higher) with cancer have different needs than younger adults with the disease. Treatment for older adults needs to consider many issues. For example, older adults:

• May be less able to tolerate certain cancer treatments.
• Have a decreased reserve (the capacity to respond to disease and treatment).
• May have other medical problems in addition to cancer.
• May have functional problems, such as the ability to do basic activities (dressing, bathing, eating) or more advanced activities (such as using transportation, going shopping or handling finances).
• May not always have access to transportation, social support or financial resources.

Cancer and other tumors are common among elderly. Elderly have many peculiarities as regard dosing, complications and tolerance of treatment options of cancer. Clinical trials that guidelines for treatment of cancer were based on were mainly applied for young age and rarely in elders, so a lot of research in this area is needed.

Just as a child would see a pediatrician for medical care, an older patient should go to a geriatrician. And an older patient with cancer will benefit from the combined expertise of the Geriatric Oncology Program’s physician experts. Older patients have unique needs because of their often complex medical histories, numerous drugs they are taking, their social situations, possible problems with cognitive dysfunction related to age, and general diminution of organ function that occurs naturally in the older population. An expert in geriatrics, working in conjunction with a medical oncologist sensitive to these problems, can decide on the appropriate treatment for any elderly cancer patient.

One of a handful of people around the world who created the field of geriatric oncology during the 1980s was Lodovico Balducci. He was co-editor of the first major medial textbook on the subject, Geriatric Oncology, published in 1982, and has been honored with the B.J. Kennedy Award for Scientific Excellence in Geriatric Oncology from the American Society of Clinical Oncology.