Chemotherapy of metastatic breast cancer in the elderly: the Piedmont Oncology Association experience
Article Abstract:
Women over 70 years old who have advanced breast cancer may respond to chemotherapy as well as younger women. Many elderly women are excluded from chemotherapy trials or are given a lower dose because they are thought to have an increased risk of side effects. Of 161 women with advanced breast cancer selected from five different chemotherapy trials, 70 were over 70 years old and 91 were younger. There were no differences in response, progression of disease or survival between the older women and the younger women. The older women were more likely to develop neutropenia, which is a drop in the level of a type of white blood cell. Neutropenia was the cause of death in one elderly woman. Elderly women with advanced breast cancer could be given colony stimulating factors, which are naturally-occurring substances in the body that boost the production of white blood cells.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1992
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Breast cancer incidence and mortality - United States, 1992
Article Abstract:
As of 1992, the incidence of breast cancer had stabilized and mortality rates had dropped. According to data from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program, the incidence of breast cancer in 1992 was 110.6 per 100,000 women and the incidence was higher in white women than in black women. A total of 43,063 US women died from breast cancer that year. The incidence of breast cancer dropped 34% between 1973 and 1992 and survival rates increased. An estimated 184,300 US women will develop breast cancer in 1996 and 44,300 will die.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1996
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Effect of Age and Comorbidity in Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Patients Aged 55 Years and Older
Article Abstract:
Women 55 years old and older with breast cancer may not receive the same care as younger breast cancer patients, according to a study of 1,800 breast cancer patients 55 and older. In addition, many may die from other diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure, stroke, and liver disease.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 2001
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