Colorectal cancer adjuvant treatment in elderly patients.
Colorectal adenocarcinoma ranks second as a cause of death due to cancer in the Western world. In Europe, 40% of patients with this disease is over 70 years old and only 52% of them with positive nodes usually receive an adjuvant chemotherapy. Despite early reports to the contrary, these patients tolerate cancer treatment and surgical resections as well as their younger counterparts but as a result of exclusion criteria, those receiving an adjuvant therapy are very few. This paper examines the factors pertinent to the small number of clinical trials designed for adjuvant colorectal cancer in the elderly.
Pasetto
Lara Maria
LM
Divisione di Oncologia Medica-Direzione, Via Gattamelata 64, Azienda Ospedale-Università, 35128 Padova, Italy. laramary@libero.it
Rossi
Elena
E
Jirillo
Antonio
A
Monfardini
Silvio
S
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant / Q000379:methods; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male