Scalliet P
Bull Mem Acad R Med Belg. 1997;152(7-9):319-25; discussion 326-7.
The constant aging of the population has a profound impact on future health policies regarding cancer treatment, because age is the main single determinant for developing cancer. A new specialty is now emerging: geriatric oncology. So far, the very few data available indicate that elderly patients are often misstaged and therefore mistreated, as a result of the lack of appropriate instruments for the evaluation of the individual life expentancy. New instruments should be developed given the emergency situation created by the explosive increase in cancer incidence.
人口的持续老龄化对未来癌症治疗的健康政策有着深远影响，因为年龄是患癌的主要单一决定因素。现在一个新的专业领域正在兴起：老年肿瘤学。到目前为止，现有的极少数据表明，由于缺乏评估个体预期寿命的适当手段，老年患者常常分期错误，进而受到不当治疗。鉴于癌症发病率的急剧上升所造成的紧急情况，应该开发新的手段。
