A growing cadre of specialists - geriatric oncologists - is the latest group of medical pioneers to meet the challenge of a rising cancer incidence among older adults. They are investigating how to fill the gaps in the way oncology is practiced today, which sometimes neglects the special needs of the elderly.
"Most oncologists are not trained to think about potential falls at home, or cognitive decline, loss of independence from treatment or even some of the inherent biologic differences in tumors among older people," said Supriya Mohile, M.D., of the University of Rochester's James P. Wilmot Cancer Center, and one of a handful of geriatric oncologists in the United States. "In older patients, cancer impacts their lifestyles much more dramatically, starting with the day they are diagnosed."
Mohile presided over a group of formally trained junior geriatric oncology researchers, and their senior mentors, for an important scholarly meeting in Rochester, N.Y., on Sept. 27th and 28th. The group discussed better ways to assess older patients for the risks and benefits of cancer treatment, to design new studies and conduct bench research on age-related issues such as drug toxicity and interactions with other medications, and to boost the number of older people in clinical trials.
Conference participants came from a range of academic medical centers, including the University of California, Los Angeles; the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa; University of Arizona in Tucson; and The Cleveland Clinic.
Meeting sponsors were the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center; the University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute; a grant to the American Society of Clinical Oncology from the Association of Subspecialty Professors; The John A. Hartford Foundation; City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles; and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.
Consider these facts about cancer: two-thirds of diagnoses and 70 percent of all deaths occur in people 65 and older. People 85 and older are growing four times as fast as any other subgroup of people receiving cancer treatment. And by 2030, as baby boomers age, cancer incidence is expected to rise dramatically.