Moffitt Cancer Center, University of South Florida, Tampa, USA.
Curr Treat Options Oncol. 2011 Sep;12(3):276-85. doi: 10.1007/s11864-011-0161-5.
Cancer is a disease of the elderly (median age 67 in the US), and this is a population with a variable health status. Therefore, treating the older half of the cancer population will present the challenge of not only addressing tumor diversity (the side often referred to in "personalized cancer care" discussions), but patient diversity as well as the interaction between these two heterogeneities. In that sense, geriatric oncology is the ultimate personalized cancer care. In this article, we will address the recent updates in the basic assessment of the patient's condition, and their implication for clinical and research use. The main progresses reported in the last couple of years pertain to geriatric screening tests, and to prediction of the tolerance to treatment. Some important data on the impact of comorbidities on cancer behavior have emerged, but the clinical implications of these data are still being sorted out. We recommend a two-step approach to the basic evaluation of the older cancer patient. First a short screening with a tested screening instrument. Then further work-up of the geriatric findings in parallel with the oncology work-up to define an integrated treatment plan.
癌症是一种老年病（美国的中位年龄为 67 岁），而这是一个健康状况各异的人群。因此，治疗癌症患者的老年群体不仅需要解决肿瘤多样性（在“个性化癌症护理”讨论中经常提到的方面），还需要解决患者多样性以及这两者之间的相互作用。从这个意义上说，老年肿瘤学是最终的个性化癌症护理。在本文中，我们将讨论患者病情基本评估的最新进展及其对临床和研究应用的影响。过去几年中报告的主要进展涉及老年筛查测试以及对治疗耐受性的预测。关于合并症对癌症行为影响的一些重要数据已经出现，但这些数据的临床意义仍在梳理中。我们建议对老年癌症患者进行基本评估的两步法。首先使用经过测试的筛查工具进行简短的筛查。然后，与肿瘤学评估并行进一步研究老年患者的发现，以制定综合治疗计划。
