Dr. Tracey Evans on Chemotherapy for the Elderly Patient

Video

Tracey Evans, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine University of Pennsylvania Health System, discusses how to determine which patients will benefit from chemotherapy.

Tracey Evans, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine University of Pennsylvania Health System, discusses how to determine which patients will benefit from chemotherapy.

The elderly, who are defined as those aged 65 or older, have historically not been considered good candidates for chemotherapy, Evans says. Because of this, they are often denied chemotherapy or given more gentle chemotherapy regimen.

Evans says more recent studies have shown that physiologic age is more important than chronological age. While elderly patients tend to experience more toxicities with chemotherapy​, they see the same survival benefit from platinum-based doublet chemotherapy as non-elderly patients.

Related Videos
Ricardo D. Parrondo, MD, hematologist/oncologist, Mayo Clinic
Ilyas Sahin, MD
Raj Singh, MD
Jaime R. Merchán, MD, professor, co-leader, Translational and Clinical Oncology Research Program, director, Phase 1 Clinical Trials Program, Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center
Saad J. Kenderian, MB, CHB
Tycel Phillips, MD
Minesh Mehta, MD
Shivaani Kummar, MBBS, FACP, Margaret and Lester DeArmond Endowed Chair of Cancer Research, Professor and Division Head, Division of Hematology/Medical Oncology, Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine; co-director, Center for Experimental Therapeutics, co-deputy director, Knight Cancer Institute
Andre Goy, MD
Wenxin (Vincent) Xu, MD,