The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7253 p818
14 June 2003

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Cancer care still lacking for elderly

Older people are still not offered chemotherapy as often as younger patients, despite similar benefits. Furthermore, they are referred less frequently to oncologists and are under-represented in clinical trials, say researchers.

A study of 3,000 women with breast cancer revealed that only 6.4 per cent of those aged over 75 years were offered chemotherapy compared with 35.4 per cent of women aged between 50 and 75 years. Another study showed that weekly docetaxel (Taxotere) treatment for prostate cancer provided similar benefits for men aged 70 years or older as for men younger than 70 years.

"Treatment options for older people ... should not be limited on the basis of age," Dr Desiree Hao, University of Calgary, Canada, said at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, where the data were presented.

The Journal attended the 39th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, held in Chicago, Illinois, from 31 May until 3 June, courtesy of Eli Lilly. It was attended by more than 25,000 cancer specialists