Experts back initiative to ensure fair treatment for older cancer patients

A review of recently published research has uncovered significant differences in the standards of treatment of older cancer patients with haematological cancers. Many older cancer patients are not treated as aggressively as younger patients in Europe; experts believe that this is because of ageism, or age discrimination. By 2030, a third of the population will be over 65 years old and 60% of all cancers occur in this population; this figure is expected to increase to 70% in the next 20 years.^1,2

ecancermedicalscience announced today the launch of a public health initiative working with experts and patient groups  to uncover the reasons why older cancer patients are not getting the treatments they deserve and to make recommendations that will ensure that patients get equal access to treatments, irrespective of age.

The initiative will raise awareness of the impact of social isolation and deprivation in the elderly on their cancer prognosis and the importance of the social care policies for older cancer patients. It will investigate whether we need to develop or adapt tools that assess biological age to assist treatment decisions and identify educational needs for physicians, carers and families to help better management. It will promote changes in clinical trial design, which at the moment typically include patients an average of 10 years younger than the actual patient population. This will be essential for developing the next generation of cancer clinical guidelines specifically for older patients.

Professor Mario Boccadoro, Department of Haematology, University of Torino, Italy, commented, “The situation in myeloma has totally changed. The newer drugs available are improving patient survival, but if you look at this survival according to age, it is in those under 60 years old. Patients over 75 years old are not started on the newer more tolerable treatments, so this improved survival is not seen in this age group yet. The cost to treat older patients in the same way would be no different, but their quality of life would be significantly better. I suspect the elderly are discriminated against.”

Professor Richard Sullivan (Kings Health Partners Integrated Cancer Centre, London), said: “We have to formulate cancer treatment guidelines for the elderly and educate so that these are used far wider than they are now. Clinical research also needs to be re-orientated to encompass the reality of clinical practice where we are seeing ever increasing numbers of elderly patients across the spectrum from the fittest to the most frail. We need more studies in the older patient population, we need assessment tools tailored to each type of cancer, and we need to develop multidisciplinary guidelines for the best treatment strategies based on biology of the patient and the status of their disease not their chronological age.”

Professor Gordon McVie, Managing Editor of ecancer, commented. “I am 65 years old this year. If I get diagnosed with cancer, I am worried that I might not get the treatment that I deserve, and my chances of getting cancer are going up every day.  Cancer care of the elderly is a massive issue.  No matter what your age, you deserve the best treatments. That’s why we at ecancer are taking on this initiative to ensure we can make a change.”

ecancermedicalscience will start the campaign by conducting a pan-European survey of oncologists and haematologists to explore the psychological and emotional reasons behind why older cancer patients are treated differently. The results of this survey will be published later this year.

Click here to watch the launch.

References

1. Balducci L et al. J Clin Oncol 2008;26:1387-1388.

2. Yancik R. Cancer J 2005; 11:437-441

Watch an interview with Prof. Richard Sullivan on ecancertv here.