Challenges Facing Radiation Oncologists in The Management of Older Cancer Patients: Consensus of The International Geriatric Radiotherapy Group
The management of older cancer patients remains difficult because of data paucity. Radiation oncologists need to identify potential issues which could affect treatment of those patients. A workshop was organized in Barcelona among international radiation oncologists with special interest in the mana...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2019-03-01
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| Series: | Cancers |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/11/3/371 |
| _version_ | 1797708324508008448 |
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| author | Tiberiu Popescu Ulf Karlsson Vincent Vinh-Hung Lurdes Trigo Juliette Thariat Te Vuong Brigitta G. Baumert Micaela Motta Alice Zamagni Marta Bonet Arthur Sun Myint Pedro Carlos Lara Nam P. Nguyen Meritxell Arenas |
| author_facet | Tiberiu Popescu Ulf Karlsson Vincent Vinh-Hung Lurdes Trigo Juliette Thariat Te Vuong Brigitta G. Baumert Micaela Motta Alice Zamagni Marta Bonet Arthur Sun Myint Pedro Carlos Lara Nam P. Nguyen Meritxell Arenas |
| author_sort | Tiberiu Popescu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The management of older cancer patients remains difficult because of data paucity. Radiation oncologists need to identify potential issues which could affect treatment of those patients. A workshop was organized in Barcelona among international radiation oncologists with special interest in the management of older cancer patients on April 22, 2018. The following consensus was reached: 1. Older cancer patients often faced unconscious discriminating bias from cancer specialists and institutions because of their chronological age. 2. Advances in radiotherapy techniques have allowed patients with multiple co-morbidities precluding surgery or systemic therapy to achieve potential cure in early disease stages. 3. The lack of biomarkers for frailty remains an impediment to future research. 4. Access to healthcare insurance and daily transportation remains an issue in many countries; 5. Hypofractionation, brachytherapy, or stereotactic techniques may be ideally suited for older cancer patients to minimize transportation issues and to improve tolerance to radiotherapy. 6. Patients with locally advanced disease who are mentally and physically fit should receive combined therapy for potential cure. 7. The role of systemic therapy alone or combined with radiotherapy for frail patients needs to be defined in future clinical trials because of targeted agents or immunotherapy may be less toxic compared to conventional chemotherapy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T06:20:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-678fa52bd9d8490387f51550db6f2a18 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-6694 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T06:20:49Z |
| publishDate | 2019-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cancers |
| spelling | doaj.art-678fa52bd9d8490387f51550db6f2a182023-09-03T02:15:16ZengMDPI AGCancers2072-66942019-03-0111337110.3390/cancers11030371cancers11030371Challenges Facing Radiation Oncologists in The Management of Older Cancer Patients: Consensus of The International Geriatric Radiotherapy GroupTiberiu Popescu0Ulf Karlsson1Vincent Vinh-Hung2Lurdes Trigo3Juliette Thariat4Te Vuong5Brigitta G. Baumert6Micaela Motta7Alice Zamagni8Marta Bonet9Arthur Sun Myint10Pedro Carlos Lara11Nam P. Nguyen12Meritxell Arenas13Department of Radiation Oncology, Prof. Dr. Ion Chricuta Oncology Institute, Cluj-Napoca 400015, RomaniaDepartment of Radiation Oncology, International Geriatric Radiotherapy Group, Washington, DC 20001, USADepartment of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital of Martinique, Martinique 97200, FranceDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Instituto Portugues de Oncologia Francisco Martins Porto E.P.E, Porto 4200-072, PortugalDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Baclesse Cancer Center, Caen 14000, FranceDepartment of Radiation Oncology, McGill University, Montreal H3T 1E2, CanadaDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Bonn, Bonn 43217, GermanyDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Humanitas Gavazzeni Bergamo, Bergamo 24125, ItalyRadiation Oncology Center, Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Sant’Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna 40138, ItalyDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Arnau de Vilanova University Hospital, Lleida 25198, SpainDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Clattterbridge Cancer Center, Liverpool CH63 4JY, UKDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Fernando Pessoa Canarias Las Palmas University, Las Palmas 35010, SpainDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Howard University, Washington, DC 20060, USADepartment of Radiation Oncology, Sant Joan de Reus University, University Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona 43204, SpainThe management of older cancer patients remains difficult because of data paucity. Radiation oncologists need to identify potential issues which could affect treatment of those patients. A workshop was organized in Barcelona among international radiation oncologists with special interest in the management of older cancer patients on April 22, 2018. The following consensus was reached: 1. Older cancer patients often faced unconscious discriminating bias from cancer specialists and institutions because of their chronological age. 2. Advances in radiotherapy techniques have allowed patients with multiple co-morbidities precluding surgery or systemic therapy to achieve potential cure in early disease stages. 3. The lack of biomarkers for frailty remains an impediment to future research. 4. Access to healthcare insurance and daily transportation remains an issue in many countries; 5. Hypofractionation, brachytherapy, or stereotactic techniques may be ideally suited for older cancer patients to minimize transportation issues and to improve tolerance to radiotherapy. 6. Patients with locally advanced disease who are mentally and physically fit should receive combined therapy for potential cure. 7. The role of systemic therapy alone or combined with radiotherapy for frail patients needs to be defined in future clinical trials because of targeted agents or immunotherapy may be less toxic compared to conventional chemotherapy.http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/11/3/371olderdiscriminationfrailtycomorbidityradiotherapy tolerance |
| spellingShingle | Tiberiu Popescu Ulf Karlsson Vincent Vinh-Hung Lurdes Trigo Juliette Thariat Te Vuong Brigitta G. Baumert Micaela Motta Alice Zamagni Marta Bonet Arthur Sun Myint Pedro Carlos Lara Nam P. Nguyen Meritxell Arenas Challenges Facing Radiation Oncologists in The Management of Older Cancer Patients: Consensus of The International Geriatric Radiotherapy Group Cancers older discrimination frailty comorbidity radiotherapy tolerance |
| title | Challenges Facing Radiation Oncologists in The Management of Older Cancer Patients: Consensus of The International Geriatric Radiotherapy Group |
| title_full | Challenges Facing Radiation Oncologists in The Management of Older Cancer Patients: Consensus of The International Geriatric Radiotherapy Group |
| title_fullStr | Challenges Facing Radiation Oncologists in The Management of Older Cancer Patients: Consensus of The International Geriatric Radiotherapy Group |
| title_full_unstemmed | Challenges Facing Radiation Oncologists in The Management of Older Cancer Patients: Consensus of The International Geriatric Radiotherapy Group |
| title_short | Challenges Facing Radiation Oncologists in The Management of Older Cancer Patients: Consensus of The International Geriatric Radiotherapy Group |
| title_sort | challenges facing radiation oncologists in the management of older cancer patients consensus of the international geriatric radiotherapy group |
| topic | older discrimination frailty comorbidity radiotherapy tolerance |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/11/3/371 |
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