Head and neck cancers in geriatric patients

Year 2009, Volume: 19 Issue: 1, 45 - 54, 01.02.2009

Ercihan Güney Sedat Çağlı İmdat Yüce

Abstract

Cancer is a disease the incidence of which rises with age. Given that the risk of developing cancer increases with advancing age, a growing number of elderly patients will need treatment for cancer in the future, and head and neck surgeons are increasingly being faced with therapeutic dilemmas regarding this age group. Related publications show that older patients are less likely than younger patients to receive standard treatment. Therapeutical planning must be based not only on tumor characteristics, but also on the physiological, rather than the chronological, age of the patient. Comorbidity is the most important factor in less intensively treatment of elderly patients. Complete geriatric assessment and a multidisiclinary approach are the crucial points. Surgeons, radiation therapy specialists, medical oncologists and geriatricians must actively cooperate in this setting. Recruitment of elderly cancer patients to more clinical trials is needed to enhance our knowledge and to offer optimum treatment to this unique subgroup.

Keywords

Comorbidity, geriatric, head and neck cancer

Yaşlılarda baş boyun kanserleri

Abstract

Kanser yaş ilerledikçe görülme oranı artan bir has- talıktır. Bu, gelecekte daha fazla yaşlı hastanın kanser tedavisine gereksinimi olacağı ve baş boyun cerrahlarının bu yaş grubundaki tedavi ikilemleri ile daha fazla yüz yüze geleceği anlamına gelmektedir. İlgili literatür, yaşlı hastalarda gerekli standart teda- vinin genç hastalara oranla daha az uygulandığına işaret etmektedir. Esasen tedavi planı sadece tümör özelliklerine göre değil, hastanın kronolojik yaşından ziyade fizyolojik yaşı da dikkate alınarak yapılmalıdır. Yaşlı hastalarda daha az ekstansif tedavi uygulan- masının en önemli nedeni bu yaşlarda artan eşlik eden hastalıklardır. Tam geriatrik değerlendirme ve multidisipliner yaklaşım son derece önemlidir. Değerlendirmeye cerrahlar, radyasyon terapistleri, tıbbi onkologlar ve geriatri uzmanları aktif olarak katılmalıdır. Konu ile ilgili bilgilerimizi artırabilmek ve bu özellikli grupta optimum bir tedavi önerebilmek için yaşlı kanserli hastalarla ilgili daha fazla klinik çalışmalara ihtiyaç vardır

Keywords

Komorbidite, yaşlılık, baş boyun kanseri

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