In a nutshell
This study investigated the effects of surgery and post-surgery chemotherapy in elderly stage 3 colon cancer patients. Researchers reported that post-surgery chemotherapy improves long-term survival of these patients.
Some background
Surgery and post-surgery chemotherapy are the standard treatment for stage 3 colon cancer. Several prior studies showed that patients benefit from post-surgery chemotherapy. However, elderly patients are often not included in clinical trials. Trials that have included elderly patients have noted that post-surgery chemotherapy is generally well tolerated, and may offer a benefit. The use of post-surgery chemotherapy in elderly patients is still under investigation.
Methods & findings
This study included information about 2920 colon cancer patients of which 1521 (52%) were elderly (70 years of age or more). Post-surgery chemotherapy was given to 48% of the elderly patients and to 81% of the younger patients. Overall survival (OS; time from treatment to death by any cause) and cancer-specific survival (CSS; time from treatment to death by cancer) were determined.
3–day mortality rates increased with advanced age, being 3% for patients between 70 and 74 years of age and 9% for patients over 80. Elderly patients who received post-surgery chemotherapy had 27% improvement in the odds of a better CSS. These patients also had a 29% increase in the odds of a better OS. However, post-surgery chemotherapy had a stronger impact in younger patients. Younger patients had a 47% improvement in the odds of a better CSS when compared to elderly patients.
The bottom line
This study determined that post-surgery chemotherapy benefits elderly colon cancer patients.
Published By :
Cancer
Date :
Mar 27, 2017
