A new study suggests that detailed health assessment for cancer patients should be created. According to the analysis done by the study, older people who show good coping mechanisms with their disease still gain poor health scores when they are examined by a geriatrician.
The study focused on older patients who are diagnosed with leukemia and lymphoma. The team, led by geriatrician at Diakonessenhuis, a hospital in The Netherlands, Dr. Marije Hamaker, analyzed 18 published researches which focused on health assessment of older people who were diagnosed with bone and blood marrow cancers. The patients on these studies were 73 years old on the average.
Results of the study found out that patients generally do well on areas related to daily activities but they tend to get a low score on areas concerned with cognitive function, social environment, nutrition, and medication interactions.
Furthermore, ten of these studies looked into the relationship of death toll and the geriatric assessment of the patients. The researchers found out that unsatisfactory physical performance and poor nutrition were constantly linked to the patient's higher probability of dying early.
"Most of what we know about treating cancer comes from research that was done in young, fit patients," Dr. Hamaker wrote in an email to Reuters Health."It is incorrect to assume that what is best for a younger person will also be best for someone who is older," she added.
The researchers emphasized that treatment decisions for patients with cancer should not be based on geriatric assessment scores alone, as they do not provide enough information. They suggested that more research on the role of geriatric assessment for patients with cancer is needed, in order to shed more light on the issue.
The study was published in the Jan. 24 issue of Leukemia Research.
