Onkologie: Besonderheiten alter Menschen

Abstract

Oncology: Characteristics of Elderly Patients The number of elderly patients with cancer will increase substantially within the next decades. These patients are not treated with the same oncological diligence as younger patients. Older patients are less often treated within clinical trials. The available data represent a selected group of patients. Older patients present with a variety of changes, which have to be taken into consideration for decision making. These are 1) reduced live expectation, 2) reduced reserve capacity, 3) changes in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, 4) co-morbidities, 5) co-medication, and 6) restrictions in functional status. In addition to a thorough examination of the oncological disease, the special situation of the elderly patients should be assessed within a geriatric assessment. It often reflects the true situation of the patients better than the normal clinical examination. This kind of assessment will be important within different decision processes: 1) early detection, 2) need of surgery, 3) need of adjuvant therapy, 4) intensity of chemotherapy, and 5) kind of follow-up. But at this time, evidence from prospective randomized trials that geriatric assessment improves the care for elderly patients with cancer is still missing.