title: Treatment of stage IV colorectal carcinoma in elderly patients.
abstract: Colorectal adenocarcinoma ranks second as a cause of death due to cancer in the Western world. In Europe, 40% of patients with colorectal cancer are over 70 years old and the incidence increased through the 1980's. Without any treatment the median survival after the detection of liver metastases is approximately 9 months, depending on the extent of disease at the time of diagnosis but not on the patients age. In the elderly there are only few data apt to define the standard regimen in the advanced disease, but results seem similar to those observed in younger patients. As a result of exclusion criteria and screening, elderly patients entering clinical trials are usually a select group, with good performance status, access to transportation, and limiting numbers of coexisting conditions. This paper examines the factors pertinent to the small number of clinical trials designed for metastatic colorectal cancer in this group of persons.
authors.affiliation: Divisione di Oncologia Medica Direzione, Azienda Ospedale-Università, Via Gattamelata 64, 35128 Padova, Italy. laramary@libero.it
authors.forename: Lara Maria
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Pasetto
authors.forename: Tamberi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stefano
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Myriam Katya
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Paris
authors.forename: Silvio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Monfardini
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents