EORTC Elderly Task Force experts’ opinion for the treatment of colon cancer in older patients

• Published in: Cancer treatment reviews Vol. 36; no. 1; pp. 83 - 90
• Main Authors: Pallis, A.G, Papamichael, D, Audisio, R, Peeters, M, Folprecht, G, Lacombe, D, Van Cutsem, E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2010
• Subjects: Age; Age Factors; Aged; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; Clinical Trials as Topic; Colon cancer; Colonic Neoplasms - drug therapy; Colonic Neoplasms - surgery; EORTC; Expert’s opinion; Geriatric Assessment; Hematology, Oncology and Palliative Medicine; Humans; Older; Retrospective Studies; Colon cancer; Expert’s opinion; EORTC; Age; Older
• ISSN: 0305-7372; 1532-1967
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ctrv.2009.10.008

Summary As a result of an increasing life expectancy, the incidence of colon cancer in the older population is rising. As a consequence oncologists and their older patients commonly face the dilemma of whether or not to give/receive treatment for colon cancer. However, the paucity of large, well conducted prospective trials makes it difficult to provide evidence-based clinical recommendations for these patients. The current evidence supports the safety and efficacy of treatment for colon cancer in fit older patients and demonstrates that treatment outcome can be similar to that of their younger counterparts. However, it should be noted that these data are derived from retrospective studies which are likely to suffer from selection bias. Despite a growing body of data, further work is still needed to establish optimal strategies to care for this special population and prospective specific trials for older colon cancer patients are clearly needed.