title: Therapeutic strategies in elderly and very elderly patients.
abstract: Management of the elderly with lymphoma needs specific attention. This means supplementary evaluation as regards to younger patients. The objective is to identify specific weaknesses of the patients and thus to foresee potential unexpected toxicities which may endanger patients' outcome. With this information, the hematologist will be able to propose an optimized treatment strategy i.e. with an adapted efficacy/toxicity ratio. These general principles are consensual but it remains to determine what the practical content of this approach is. Recent results suggest some specific tools for the pre-treatment evaluation. Some specific indexes have been proposed to categorize patients but the ultimate approach remains to be outlined. Finally, while geriatric intervention has demonstrated its capacity to improve survival in the general elderly population, no such demonstration has been made in cancer patients including lymphoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Institut Bergonié, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Bordeaux, France. soubeyran_p@bergonie.org
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Soubeyran
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Henriques de Figueiredo
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Soubeyran
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mertens
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Cazeau
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D011241:Prednisone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011839:Radiation, Ionizing; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014750:Vincristine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D014750:Vincristine; D004317:Doxorubicin; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D011241:Prednisone