This issue of Aging Health is dedicated to the theme of oncology. Worldwide, breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women, and generally is a disease of older women. Despite improvements in the treatment of early-stage breast cancer, there remains a disproportionately high death rate from breast cancer in the elderly population . The cause for this discrepancy is likely to be multifactorial. For example, it has been shown that older women present with more advanced disease at diagnosis. Compared with younger women, those over the age of 70 years are more likely to present with axillary nodal involvement at their initial diagnosis of breast cancer . Competing comorbidities contribute to the individual patient's outcome and may compromise the ability to administer full doses of adjuvant therapy. Using case examples, survey data suggest that medical oncologists are cautious in recommending adjuvant therapy in women of advancing age or poorer health status .
展开▼
