scholarly journals Systemic Therapy for Elderly Patients with Gastrointestinal Cancer

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. CMO.S6983 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joleen M. Hubbard ◽  
Axel Grothey ◽  
Daniel J. Sargent

The majority of patients with gastrointestinal cancers are over the age of 65. This age group comprises the minority of the patients enrolled in clinical trials, and it is unknown whether older patients achieve similar results as younger patients in terms of survival benefit and tolerability. In addition, there are few studies specifically designed for patients over 65 years. Subset analyses of individual trials and studies using pooled patient data from multiple trials provide some understanding on outcomes in older patients with gastrointestinal cancers. This article reviews the evidence on chemotherapeutic regimens in the elderly with colorectal, pancreatic, and gastroesophageal cancers, and discusses a practical approach to provide the best outcomes for older patients.

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (8) ◽  
pp. 1466-1472
Author(s):  
Grażyna Kobus ◽  
Jolanta Małyszko ◽  
Hanna Bachórzewska-Gajewska

Introduction: In the elderly, impairment of kidney function occurs. Renal diseases overlap with anatomic and functional changes related to age-related involutionary processes. Mortality among patients with acute renal injury is approximately 50%, despite advances in treatment and diagnosis of AKI. The aim: To assess the incidence of acute kidney injury in elderly patients and to analyze the causes of acute renal failure depending on age. Materials and methods: A retrospective analysis included medical documentation of patients hospitalized in the Nephrology Clinic during the 6-month period. During this period 452 patients were hospitalized in the clinic. A group of 77 patients with acute renal failure as a reason for hospitalization was included in the study. Results: The prerenal form was the most common cause of AKI in both age groups. In both age groups, the most common cause was dehydration; in the group of patients up to 65 years of age, dehydration was 29.17%; in the group of people over 65 years - 43.39%. Renal replacement therapy in patients with AKI was used in 14.29% of patients. In the group of patients up to 65 years of age hemodialysis was 16.67% and above 65 years of age. -13.21% of patients. The average creatinine level in the group of younger patients at admission was 5.16 ± 3.71 mg / dl, in the group of older patients 3.14 ± 1.63 mg / dl. The size of glomerular filtration GFR in the group of younger patients at admission was 21.14 ± 19.54 ml / min, in the group of older patients 23.34 ± 13.33 ml / min. Conclusions: The main cause of acute kidney injury regardless of the age group was dehydration. Due to the high percentage of AKI in the elderly, this group requires more preventive action, not only in the hospital but also at home.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas Posadas ◽  
Grace Oscullo ◽  
Enrique Zaldívar ◽  
Alberto Garcia-Ortega ◽  
José Daniel Gómez-Olivas ◽  
...  

The population pyramid is changing as a result of the ever-increasing life expectancy, which makes it crucial to acquire an in-depth understanding of the diseases that most often affect the elderly. Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) affects 15%–20% of the population aged over 65 years. Despite this prevalence, there have been very few specific studies on the management of OSA in this age group, even though over 60% of the patients aged over 65-70 years who attend sleep units with suspicion of OSA receive treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), on the basis of an extrapolation of the positive results achieved by CPAP in clinical trials involving middle-aged males. However, the latter’s form of presentation, evolution and, probably, prognosis comparing with OSA are not the same as those of elderly patients. Recent clinical trials performed on an exclusive series of elderly patients have shed light on the possible role of CPAP treatment in elderly patients with OSA, but there are still many questions that need to be answered. The physiological increase in the number of sleep-related disorders with the passing of years, and the lack of validated diagnostic and therapeutic tools for this age group are probably the greatest obstacles to define, diagnose and treat OSA in the elderly.


2017 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 1201-1211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Brokinkel ◽  
Markus Holling ◽  
Dorothee Cäcilia Spille ◽  
Katharina Heß ◽  
Cristina Sauerland ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to compare long-term prognosis after meningioma surgery in elderly and younger patients as well as to compare survival of elderly patients with surgically treated meningioma to survival rates for the general population. METHODS Five hundred meningioma patients (median follow-up 90 months) who underwent surgery between 1994 and 2009 were subdivided into “elderly” (age ≥ 65 years, n = 162) and “younger” (age < 65 years, n = 338) groups for uni- and multivariate analyses. Mortality was compared with rates for the age- and sex-matched general population. RESULTS The median age at diagnosis was 71 in the elderly group and 51 years in the younger group. Sex, intracranial tumor location, grade of resection, radiotherapy, and histopathological subtypes were similar in the 2 groups. High-grade (WHO Grades II and III) and spinal tumors were more common in older patients than in younger patients (15% vs 8%, p = 0.017, and 12% vs 4%, p = 0.001, respectively). The progression-free interval (PFI) was similar in the 2 groups, whereas mortality at 3 months after surgery was higher and median overall survival (OS) was shorter in older patients (7%, 191 months) than in younger patients (1%, median not reached; HR 4.9, 95% CI 2.75–8.74; p < 0.001). Otherwise, the median OS in elderly patients did not differ from the anticipated general life expectancy (HR 1.03, 95% CI 0.70–1.50; p = 0.886). Within the older patient group, PFI was lower in patients with high-grade meningiomas (HR 24.74, 95% CI 4.23–144.66; p < 0.001) and after subtotal resection (HR 10.57, 95% CI 2.23–50.05; p = 0.003). Although extent of resection was independent of perioperative mortality, the median OS was longer after gross-total resection than after subtotal resection (HR 2.7, 95% CI 1.09–6.69; p = 0.032). CONCLUSIONS Elderly patients with surgically treated meningioma do not suffer from impaired survival compared with the age-matched general population, and their PFI is similar to that of younger meningioma patients. These data help mitigate fears concerning surgical treatment of elderly patients in an aging society.


Blood ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 134 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 3490-3490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marjorie E Zettler ◽  
Chadi Nabhan ◽  
Ajeet Gajra ◽  
Bruce Feinberg

Introduction: Registry data indicate that 20% or more of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients are ≥60; these HL patients have been labeled as elderly as their treatment has been associated with more toxicity, a higher relapse rate, and greater mortality relative to younger patients. The characteristics of HL in elderly patients differ from those in younger patients and may represent a biologically more aggressive disease. Further, elderly patients generally have a greater comorbidity burden than their younger counterparts, which may contribute to their under-representation in clinical trials. Nivolumab (NIVO) and pembrolizumab (PEMBRO) are both approved for treating relapsed/refractory HL based on studies that largely enrolled younger patients, as only about 10% of enrolled patients in the pivotal trials that led to their United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval were ≥60 years of age. Whether adverse events (AEs) related to these immunotherapies differ between younger and older HL patients is unknown and may have important clinical and practice implications. Therefore, we reviewed all post-marketing case reports from the FDA Adverse Events Reporting System (FAERS) Database involving NIVO or PEMBRO for HL and compared AEs and outcomes by age. Methods: The FAERS database is a repository of anonymized reports for product-related AEs, classified using the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) and categorized as serious or non-serious. The database was queried for cases involving NIVO or PEMBRO (and their respective trade names) from the FDA approval date for the HL indication (May 17, 2016 for NIVO; March 14, 2017 for PEMBRO) through March 31, 2019. Cases were excluded if the age of the patient was unknown, or if the case was reported outside the US. Comparisons of rates of AEs by age group were made using Fisher's exact test; statistical significance was determined at a two-sided α=0.05. Results: A total of 126 cases were retrieved (117 involving NIVO, 9 involving PEMBRO). One hundred and fourteen of the 126 cases (90%) were categorized as serious. Median age of all patients involved was 56 (range 10-89); 53 of the cases (42%) involved patients age 60 or older (Table). Overall, 8 cases had an outcome categorized as life-threatening; 20 cases resulted in death; 2 resulted in disability; and 74 resulted in hospitalization. A higher proportion of cases involving younger patients were categorized under the reaction group "neoplasms benign, malignant and unspecified" (16% vs. 2%; p&lt;0.01), and older patients had a greater incidence of infectious complications compared with their younger counterparts, though this was marginally significant (40% vs. 23%; p=0.05). The proportion of cases resulting in hospitalization was significantly higher in the ≥60 age group as compared to the &lt;60 age group (79% vs. 44%; p &lt;0.01). Adverse reactions that were common in clinical trials, such as fatigue, pyrexia, headache, peripheral neuropathy, upper respiratory tract infection, hypothyroidism, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, did not show any significant associations by age group (all p values &gt;0.05). Conclusions: Although elderly patients comprise 20% of the HL patient population in the US, our post-marketing analysis indicates that AEs in this subgroup account for more than 40% of the total. This suggests that elderly HL patients experience a disproportional number of AEs compared to younger HL patients. While the types of AEs reported in post-marketing cases generally paralleled those observed in clinical trials of HL patients receiving NIVO or PEMBRO, hospitalizations and infections were more common in the elderly group. These differences in the adverse reactions and safety outcomes associated with PD-1 blockade therapy in HL patients may help inform clinical care and monitoring for AEs. Despite the inherent limitations of this study, our findings complement clinical trial safety data and provide insight into real-world trends in reported safety signals that merit further study. Disclosures Zettler: Cardinal Health: Employment. Nabhan:Aptitude Health: Employment. Gajra:Cardinal Health: Employment. Feinberg:Cardinal Health: Employment.


1999 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 2412-2412 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Popescu ◽  
A. Norman ◽  
P. J. Ross ◽  
B. Parikh ◽  
D. Cunningham

PURPOSE: The surgical treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC) in elderly patients (age 70 years or older) has improved, but data on adjuvant and palliative chemotherapy tolerability and benefits in this growing population remain scarce. Elderly patients are underrepresented in clinical trials, and results for older patients are seldom reported separately. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using a prospective database, we analyzed demographics, chemotherapy toxicity, response rates, failure-free survival (FFS), and overall survival (OS) of CRC patients receiving chemotherapy at the Royal Marsden Hospital. The cutoff age was 70 years. RESULTS: A total of 844 patients received first-line chemotherapy with various fluorouracil (5-FU)-containing regimens or raltitrexed for advanced disease, and 543 patients were administered adjuvant, protracted venous infusion 5-FU or bolus 5-FU/folinic acid (FA) chemotherapy. Of the 1,387 patients, 310 were 70 years or older. There was no difference in overall or severe (Common Toxicity Criteria III to IV) toxicity between the two age groups, with the exception of more frequent severe mucositis in older patients receiving adjuvant bolus 5-FU/FA. For patients receiving palliative chemotherapy, no difference in response rates (24% v 29%, P = .19) and median FFS (164 v 168 days) were detected when the elderly were compared with younger patients. Median OS was 292 days for the elderly group and 350 days for the younger patients (P = .04), and 1-year survival was 44% and 48%, respectively. The length of inpatient hospital stay was identical. CONCLUSION: Elderly patients with good performance status tolerated adjuvant and palliative chemotherapy for CRC as well as did younger patients and had similar benefits from palliative chemotherapy.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 213-217
Author(s):  
Zdenka Hruskova ◽  
Vladimir Tesar

Background: Rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN) is characterized by a rapid deterioration of renal function and by extracapillary proliferation in >50% of glomeruli. The most common type of RPGN is “pauci-immune” glomerulonephritis caused by anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies-associated vasculitis (AAV). Summary: The incidence of AAV increases with age and pauci-immune glomerulonephritis is the most common diagnosis found in renal biopsies in the elderly population. Age was identified as an independent negative risk factor for both death and end-stage renal disease in AAV, and the mortality of older patients was uniformly higher than in younger patients in all retrospective studies. Early diagnosis may be difficult particularly in elderly patients with renal-limited disease but is important for the good outcome of the patients. Immunosuppressive treatment options include cyclophosphamide or rituximab combined with corticosteroids with or without plasma exchange in case of severe disease. Data from randomized trials are completely missing for patient aged >75 years. Based on retrospective studies, elderly patients seem to respond to immunosuppressive drugs just as younger patients are able to, but they are at a higher risk of adverse events. Key Messages: RPGN is relatively common in the elderly patients. Immunosuppressive treatment in older patients with AAV or RPGN may be useful but needs to be strictly individualized with all the risks taken into consideration. Further studies are needed to examine the role of novel therapeutic options in the elderly population with RPGN.


2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 440-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Woyach ◽  
Amy S. Ruppert ◽  
Kanti Rai ◽  
Thomas S. Lin ◽  
Susan Geyer ◽  
...  

Purpose Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a disease of the elderly, yet few clinical trials include a significant number of older patients, and outcomes after specific therapies can be different depending on age. Patients and Methods We examined patients enrolled onto successive first-line CALGB CLL trials to determine whether efficacy of regimens varied by age, focusing on ideal chemotherapy choice and benefit of immunotherapy addition to chemotherapy in older patients. Regimens included chlorambucil, fludarabine, fludarabine plus rituximab (FR), fludarabine with consolidation alemtuzumab, and FR with consolidation alemtuzumab. Results A total of 663 patients were evaluated for response, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) by age group. Interaction effects of fludarabine versus chlorambucil by age group (PFS, P = .046; OS, P = .006) showed that among patients younger than 70 years, PFS and OS was improved with fludarabine over chlorambucil (PFS: hazard ratio [HR] = 0.6, 95% CI, 0.5 to 0.8; OS: HR = 0.7, 95% CI, 0.5 to 0.9), but not in older adults (PFS, HR = 1.0, 95% CI, 0.6 to 1.7; OS: HR = 1.5, 95% CI, 0.9 to 2.3). In contrast, FR improved outcomes relative to fludarabine, irrespective of age (PFS: HR = 0.6, 95% CI, 0.4 to 0.7; OS: HR = 0.7, 95% CI, 0.5 to 0.9). Alemtuzumab consolidation did not provide benefit over similar regimens without alemtuzumab (P > .20), irrespective of age. Conclusion These data support the use of chlorambucil as an acceptable treatment for many older patients with CLL and suggest rituximab is beneficial regardless of age. These findings bear relevance to both routine care of CLL patients 70 years and older and also future clinical trials in this population.


Blood ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 116 (21) ◽  
pp. 3411-3411
Author(s):  
Susanne Saussele ◽  
Nadine Pletsch ◽  
Michael Lauseker ◽  
Armin Leitner ◽  
Susanne Jung-Munkwitz ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 3411 Background: Dose of therapy and time to response may be different in the elderly as compared to younger patients with CML. This has been reported previously for interferon α (Berger et al., Leukemia 2003). For imatinib, contradictory results have been presented (Rosti et al. Haematologica 2007, Guliotta et al. Blood 2009). Aims: An analysis comparing dose-response relationship in patients more or less than 65 years (y) of age is warranted. Methods: We analysed the German CML-Study IV, a randomized 5-arm trial to optimize imatinib therapy by combination, dose escalation and transplantation. Patients older and younger than 65y randomized to imatinib 400 mg (IM400) or 800 mg (IM800) were compared with regard to time to hematologic, cytogenetic and molecular remissions, imatinib dose, adverse events (AEs) and overall survival (OS). Results: From July 2002 to April 2009, 1311 patients with Ph+ CML in chronic phase were randomized, 623 patients were evaluable, 311 patients for treatment with IM400 and 312 for IM800. 84 (27%) and 66 (21%), respectively, were older than 65 years. All patients were evaluable for hematologic, 578 (140 >65y and 438 <65y) for cytogenetic, and 600 (143 and 457, respectively) for molecular responses. Median age was 70y vs. 49y for IM400 and 69y vs. 46y for IM800. The median dose per day was lower for elderly patients with IM800 (517mg vs. 666mg) and the same with IM400 (400mg each). Patients' characteristics at baseline were evenly distributed in all groups regarding gender, follow-up, hemoglobin, platelet count and spleen size. Leukocyte counts were significantly lower in elderly patients (IM400: 50/nl vs. 78/nl, IM800: 36/nl vs. 94/nl). EURO score was different due to age in elderly patients (low risk: IM400: 11% vs. 43%, IM800: 14% vs. 42%; intermediate risk: IM400: 79% vs. 44% and IM800: 73% and 43%). There was no difference in cytogenetic and molecular analyses between treatment groups. With regard to efficacy, there was no difference for older patients in achieving a complete cytogenetic remission (CCR) and major molecular remission (MMR) if IM400 and IM800 were compared together. If treatment groups were analyzed separately, older patients treated with IM400 reached CCR and MMR statistically significant slower than younger patients (CCR: median 14.2 months vs. 12.1 months, p=0.019; MMR: median 18.7 months vs. 17.5 months, p=0.006). There was no difference with IM800 (CCR: median 7.7 months vs. 8.9 months, MMR: median 9.9 months vs. 10.0 months). 3y-OS for older patients >65y was 94.7% and for patients <65y was 96.1%. Some differences were observed in the safety analyses. 530 patients (IM400: 278, IM800: 252) were evaluated on common toxicity criteria (WHO). Some hematologic AEs were documented slightly more often in the elderly than in the younger patients: for IM400 anemia grade 1–2 (60 vs. 42%) and leukopenia grade 3–4 (5.6 vs. 1.4%) and for IM800 anemia grade 1–4 (64 vs.47% and 7.2 vs. 5.7%) and thrombocytopenia grade 3–4 (9.3 vs. 7.1%). Non hematologic AEs were more prominent in IM800 and were mainly gastrointestinal symptoms (IM400: 33 vs. 31%, IM800: 48 and 44%) and edema (IM400: 28 vs. 29%, IM800: 35 vs. 50%). There was no difference for grade 3/4 non-hematological AEs in older patients in both groups. Conclusions: Imatinib 400 mg and 800 mg are well tolerated also in the elderly. The IM800 dosage was more tolerability-adapted for the elderly, but there was no difference in reaching a CCR and MMR in contrast to the IM400 where a significantly slower response was detected in the elderly. Whether this difference is clinically relevant has yet to be determined. Updated results will be presented. Disclosures: Haferlach: MLL Munich Leukemia Laboratory: Employment, Equity Ownership, Research Funding. German CML-Study Group:Deutsche Krebshilfe: Research Funding; Novartis: Research Funding; Roche: Research Funding; BMBF: Research Funding; Essex: Research Funding.


2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (18_suppl) ◽  
pp. 7009-7009 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Pepe ◽  
B. Hasan ◽  
T. Winton ◽  
L. Seymour ◽  
J. Pater ◽  
...  

7009 Background: Recent trials have shown significant survival benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy after resection of NSCLC. Whether elderly patients tolerate platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy and derive the same survival advantage is unknown. This retrospective study evaluated the influence of age on survival, chemotherapy delivery and toxicity in NCIC CTG BR.10. Methods: Pretreatment characteristics and survival benefit from treatment were compared for patients ≤65 & >65. Chemotherapy delivery and toxicity were compared for 213 treated patients. Results: There were 327 young and 155 elderly patients. Baseline prognostic factors by age were similar with the exception of histology (adeno 58% young, 43% elderly; squamous 32% young, 49% elderly; p=0.001) and PS (PS 0 53% young, 41% elderly; p=0.01). Overall survival by age showed a trend favoring the young in univariate (HR 0.77, CI 0.58–1.04, p=0.084) and multivariate analyses (HR 0.75, CI 0.56–1.01, p=0.059). Patients >75 years had significantly shorter survival than those aged 66–74 (HR 1.95, CI 1.11–3.41, p=0.02). Overall survival for patients >65 was significantly better with chemotherapy v observation (HR 0.61, CI 0.38–0.98, p=0.04). Chemotherapy administration and toxicity were evaluated in 63 elderly and 150 young patients. Mean dose intensities of vinorelbine (V) and cisplatin (C) were 13.2 and 18.0 in the young and 9.9 and 14.1 in the elderly (V p=0.0004; C p=0.001). The elderly received significantly fewer doses of V (p=0.014) and C (p=0.006). Fewer elderly patients completed treatment and more refused treatment compared to the young (p=0.03). There were no significant differences in toxicities, G-CSF use or hospitalization by age group, except for myalgias and mood alteration (more frequent among the young). Six of 126 deaths (4.8%) in the young were from non-malignant causes v 12 of 71 (16.9%) in the elderly (p=0.008). Conclusions: In spite of receiving less chemotherapy than young patients, adjuvant chemotherapy improves overall survival in patients aged >65 with acceptable toxicity. Adjuvant chemotherapy should not be withheld from elderly patients, although patients >75 years of age require further study. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e19047-e19047
Author(s):  
H. Paripati ◽  
W. Tong ◽  
N. J. Karlin ◽  
A. C. Dueck ◽  
H. J. Ross

e19047 Background: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is predominantly a disease of the elderly. Most patients (pts) present with incurable advanced disease, but chemotherapy for good performance status (PS) pts improves quality and quantity of life. Despite good PS, many elderly pts with metastatic NSCLC do not receive chemotherapy. This study compared treatment, outcomes, and survival in elderly vs younger pts with stage IV NSCLC. Methods: All analytic MCA Cancer Registry pts with stage IV NSCLC from 1998–2007 were retrospectively reviewed for type of therapy and outcome. Pts were analyzed by age: <75 vs ≥75 years old. Categorical variables were compared using chi-squared tests and survival was compared by Cox regression. Results: 344 pts with stage IV NSCLC were identified. 234 (68%) pts were <75 years old, and 110 pts (32%) were ≥75 years old. Median survival for all pts was 7 months. Among 302 pts with treatment data available, 60.8% of pts <75 years old received some form of systemic therapy (chemotherapy/targeted therapy) compared to only 32% of pts ≥ 75 years old (p <0.0001). Among pts with PS 0–1, pts <75 years old more frequently received systemic therapy than elderly patients (88.5% vs 32.1%, p<0.0001); whereas a difference was not evident in pts with PS 2–4 (34.1% vs 41.7%, p=0.49). Median survival in the <75 age group was 7 months vs. 3.4 months in the ≥75 age group (p=0.048). In the <75 age group, median survival was 12 months in pts who received chemotherapy vs. 2 months in the other or no treatment group (p<0.0001). In the elderly group, median survival was 10 months in the chemotherapy group vs. 2 months in the pts who received other or no treatment (p=0.0003). Thus, the median survival was significantly improved among the pts who received systemic therapy independent of age. Statistical significance persisted when stratifying by PS. Conclusions: Pts with stage IV NSCLC have improved survival with systemic therapy independent of age. Our results confirm that despite an improvement in survival similar to younger pts, elderly patients with metastatic NSCLC are often undertreated. Prospective trials should be designed to include metastatic NSCLC patients without age discrimination No significant financial relationships to disclose.


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