A continuing mission to optimize the care of older women with breast cancer

The majority of cases of breast cancer occur in the older population who are often un-represented in clinical trials. Given the growing ageing population globally, it becomes urgent and important to identify an optimal approach so that older women with breast cancer are neither under- or over-treate...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Cheung, Kwok-Leung
Format: Article
Published: MDPI 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48317/
Description
Summary:The majority of cases of breast cancer occur in the older population who are often un-represented in clinical trials. Given the growing ageing population globally, it becomes urgent and important to identify an optimal approach so that older women with breast cancer are neither under- or over-treated. An inter-disciplinary research program is ongoing to investigate differing tumor biology according to age, and the potential use of a geriatric assessment tool, aiming to help select older women with primary breast cancer for a personalized and optimal treatment. Full considerations of the biology of the patient’s cancer and the geriatric domains of the patient must be taken into account when making treatment decisions.