PMID: 16617560Apr 19, 2006Paper

Chemotherapy treatment options for elderly women with breast cancer

Anticancer Research
Sherko KümmelAnke Thomas

Abstract

Due to improved life expectancy and the increase in incidence of breast cancer in old age, ever more older women are developing this disease. Although there is only limited evidence-based data from randomized trials on the treatment, older patients are still under-represented in clinical studies, and currently there is no clear consensus on chemotherapy treatment for older women with breast cancer. Adjuvant therapy strategies, in particular, suffer from a lack of uniform standards and reflect a generally less aggressive treatment. Recently published studies have shown that older women suffering from breast cancer can also profit from a treatment based on therapeutic standards and consensus guidelines. In spite of developments in adjuvant chemotherapy using increased amounts of therapeutic agent to improve survival, many older patients receive instead reduced quantities of chemotherapeutic agent. Thus, the questions arise, whether undertreatment of older patients with breast cancer can lead to a poorer outcome or whether new therapy strategies (e.g., dose-intensive chemotherapy) can be used with older patients. A common reason for dose reductions is neutropenia, but studies have shown that it is manageable by using granulocyte c...Continue Reading

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