title: Clinical features and overall survival among elderly cancer patients in a tertiary cancer center.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the epidemiological profile and overall survival of a large population of elderly individuals diagnosed with solid tumors in a tertiary hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective study included patients aged >65 years, diagnosed with solid tumors between January 2007 and December 2011, at Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, Brazil. The medical records were reviewed to obtain information about clinical variables and overall survival.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 806 patients were identified, and 58.4% were male. Mean age was 74 years (65 to 99 years). The most common types were prostate (22%), colorectal (21%), breast (19%), and lung cancer (13%), followed by bladder (8%), pancreas (6%), and other types (11%). The majority of patients were diagnosed at early stage disease. After a median follow-up of 27 months (15 to 45 months), 29% of the patients (234/806) died, predominantly in the group older than 70 years. For the entire cohort, the median 2-year survival rate was 71%. Median overall survival was not reached within the study period. In a multivariate analysis, age (HR: 1.35; 95%CI: 1.25-1.45; p<0.001) and disease stage (HR: 1.93; 95%CI: 1.75-2.14; p<0.001) were independent negative predictors of poor survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The most prevalent tumors were prostate, colorectal, breast, and lung cancer, with the larger proportion diagnosed at initial stages, reflecting the great number of patients alive at last follow-up.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Yuri Philippe Pimentel Vieira
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Antunes
authors.affiliation: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Diogo Diniz Gomes
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Bugano
authors.affiliation: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Auro del
authors.initials: Ad
authors.lastname: Giglio
authors.affiliation: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rafael Aliosha
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Kaliks
authors.affiliation: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Theodora
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Karnakis
authors.affiliation: Hospital do Coração, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lucíola de Barros
authors.initials: Lde B
authors.lastname: Pontes
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality*; D015995:Prevalence; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*