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Head and neck cancers and the elderly: A growing challenge
Author(s) -
Vlantis Alexander Chris
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
surgical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.109
H-Index - 10
eISSN - 1744-1633
pISSN - 1744-1625
DOI - 10.1111/1744-1633.12132
Subject(s) - medicine , head and neck cancer , incidence (geometry) , comorbidity , cancer , population , head and neck , age groups , population ageing , pediatrics , demography , surgery , environmental health , physics , sociology , optics
Aim The aim of the present study was to highlight the growing challenge of an ageing population carrying an increasing cancer burden using head and neck cancers as an illustration. Patients and Methods Literature was reviewed and local statistics obtained. Results Globally, while the population has increased by 6 per cent in the past 5 years, the 75+ year age group had doubled from 7 per cent to 14 per cent. One of the main risk factors for developing cancer is age. Age‐standardized incidence rates increase the most in the 75+ year age group, in which, using the UK for example, approximately 35 per cent of all cancer is diagnosed. At the Prince of Wales Hospital in H ong K ong, 88 per cent of head and neck cancer patients undergoing surgery have a comorbidity, and 37 per cent of these patients are 65 years or older. Conclusions The global population is increasing, the number of elderly is increasing and the number of elderly with cancer is increasing. Elderly patients often have comorbidities and require an additional set of resources for their management, thus it is vital to ensure that the right patient gets the right treatment at the correct level of intensity. Cancer treatment recommendations and assumptions should not be based on age, but on effective assessments that indicate who will tolerate what treatment.