Older Adults With Lung Cancer: Assessment, Treatment Options, Survivorship Issues, and Palliative Care Strategies.

BACKGROUND

Treatment advances offer options for cancer treatment in older adults that are less invasive and have fewer side effects. Geriatric assessment is a key component of treatment planning to identify functional and physiologic status and is the basis of decision making.

OBJECTIVES

This article discusses the role of geriatric assessment, treatment options (e.g., surgical, chemotherapy, radiation therapy), survivorship issues, and palliative care strategies for older adults with cancer.

METHODS

Literature was reviewed to identify geriatric assessment implications, current treatment strategies, and survivorship and palliative care interventions for older adults with cancer based on a case study approach.

FINDINGS

Geriatric assessment is key to identifying deficits and disabilities in older adults with cancer and is a critical component in oncology treatment planning. Evidence-based, less invasive treatment options are available and offer older adults more tolerable oncologic therapies.