Monfardini Silvio, Perrone Francesco, Balducci Lodovico
History of European Oncology Program, European School of Oncology, 20121 Milan, Italy.
Director Clinical Trial Unit, National Cancer Institute, IRCCS Fondazione G. Pascale, 80131 Naples, Italy.
Cancers (Basel). 2023 May 25;15(11):2910. doi: 10.3390/cancers15112910.
An oncogeriatric interdisciplinary activity exists only in a minority of high-income countries, and it is almost absent in those with lower incomes. Considering topics, sessions, and tracks in the main meetings and conferences of the major Oncological Societies in Europe and worldwide, the USA excluded, little attention has thus far been paid to the problem of cancer in the elderly. Again, with the exception of the USA, the major cooperative groups, for example, the EORTC in Europe, have only dedicated marginal attention to the research of cancer in the elderly. Despite major shortcomings, professionals interested in geriatric oncology have taken a number of important initiatives to highlight the benefits of this particular activity, including the organization of an international society (Société Internationale de Oncogeriatrie, or SIOG). In spite of these efforts, the authors believe that the management of cancer in the older population is still encountering several important and generalized pitfalls. The main obstacle is the grossly inadequate number of geriatricians and clinical oncologists necessary to an integrated care of the ever-expanding aging population, but other hurdles have been reported. Additionally, the prejudice of ageism can lead to missing potential resources for the development of a generalized oncogeriatric approach.
肿瘤老年医学的跨学科活动仅在少数高收入国家存在，而在低收入国家几乎不存在。考虑到欧洲及全球（不包括美国）主要肿瘤学会的主要会议和大会的主题、会议和专题，迄今为止，老年癌症问题几乎未得到关注。同样，除美国外，主要的合作组织，例如欧洲的欧洲癌症研究与治疗组织（EORTC），对老年癌症研究也只是给予了极少的关注。尽管存在重大缺陷，但对老年肿瘤学感兴趣的专业人员已采取了一些重要举措来突出这一特定活动的益处，包括成立了一个国际协会（国际老年肿瘤学会，即SIOG）。尽管做出了这些努力，但作者认为，老年人群体的癌症管理仍面临一些重要且普遍存在的问题。主要障碍是，对于不断扩大的老年人口进行综合护理所需的老年医学专家和临床肿瘤学家严重不足，但也有其他障碍被报道。此外，年龄歧视的偏见可能导致错失开发通用的肿瘤老年医学方法的潜在资源。
