T Mahoney1, Y H Kuo, A Topilow, J M Davis. 1. Department of Surgery, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Meridian Health System/Jersey Shore Medical Center, Neptune, NJ 07754, USA.
Abstract
HYPOTHESIS: Adjuvant chemotherapy is not offered to elderly patients with stage III colon cancer. DESIGN: A retrospective review of hospital and office records. SETTING: A suburban community hospital. PATIENTS: The medical records of 69 patients with stage III colon cancer were reviewed. All identified from the Tumor Registry at Jersey Shore Medical Center, Neptune, NJ, were included in this study. RESULTS: Thirty-five patients (51%) did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy. After adjusting for age, women were 5.8 times less likely to receive chemotherapy (P = .002). Patients not receiving chemotherapy were significantly older (78.7 vs 70.4 years; P = .003) than those who received adjuvant chemotherapy. There was no relation found between the year of diagnosis and the administration of chemotherapy. There were 4 major reasons for not receiving chemotherapy: (1) not offered (n = 12, 34%), (2) refused (n = 11, 31%), (3) too old (n = 7, 20%), and (4) significant concomitant disease (n = 5, 14%). CONCLUSIONS: A large group of elderly patients who had been surgically treated for colon cancer and who were eligible for adjuvant chemotherapy either were not referred for treatment or refused treatment. This suggests a bias on the part of surgeons, primary care physicians, and patients against the use of chemotherapy in elderly patients.
HYPOTHESIS: Adjuvant chemotherapy is not offered to elderly patients with stage III colon cancer. DESIGN: A retrospective review of hospital and office records. SETTING: A suburban community hospital. PATIENTS: The medical records of 69 patients with stage III colon cancer were reviewed. All identified from the Tumor Registry at Jersey Shore Medical Center, Neptune, NJ, were included in this study. RESULTS: Thirty-five patients (51%) did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy. After adjusting for age, women were 5.8 times less likely to receive chemotherapy (P = .002). Patients not receiving chemotherapy were significantly older (78.7 vs 70.4 years; P = .003) than those who received adjuvant chemotherapy. There was no relation found between the year of diagnosis and the administration of chemotherapy. There were 4 major reasons for not receiving chemotherapy: (1) not offered (n = 12, 34%), (2) refused (n = 11, 31%), (3) too old (n = 7, 20%), and (4) significant concomitant disease (n = 5, 14%). CONCLUSIONS: A large group of elderly patients who had been surgically treated for colon cancer and who were eligible for adjuvant chemotherapy either were not referred for treatment or refused treatment. This suggests a bias on the part of surgeons, primary care physicians, and patients against the use of chemotherapy in elderly patients.
Authors: S Yousuf Zafar; Stewart C Alexander; Kevin P Weinfurt; Kevin A Schulman; Amy P Abernethy Journal: Support Care Cancer Date: 2008-09-19 Impact factor: 3.603
Authors: Amy J Davidoff; Sheila Weiss Smith; Maria R Baer; Xuehua Ke; Jason M Bierenbaum; Franklin Hendrick; Diane L McNally; Steven D Gore Journal: Haematologica Date: 2012-01 Impact factor: 9.941
Authors: Polina Khrizman; Joyce C Niland; Anna ter Veer; Dana Milne; Kelli Bullard Dunn; William E Carson; Paul F Engstrom; Stephen Shibata; John M Skibber; Martin R Weiser; Deborah Schrag; Al B Benson Journal: J Clin Oncol Date: 2012-11-19 Impact factor: 44.544
Authors: Tanya M Wildes; Alexander P Ruwe; Chloe Fournier; Feng Gao; Kenneth R Carson; Jay F Piccirillo; Benjamin Tan; Graham A Colditz Journal: J Geriatr Oncol Date: 2013-07 Impact factor: 3.599
Authors: Tanya M Wildes; Dorina Kallogjeri; Brian Powers; Anna Vlahiotis; Matthew Mutch; Edward L Spitznagel; Benjamin Tan; Jay F Piccirillo Journal: J Geriatr Oncol Date: 2010-10-01 Impact factor: 3.599