• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• 제31권2호
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• pp.1-13
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• 2024

The purpose of this study is to identify the quality of life (QOL) and factors influencing the QOL in middle-aged and elderly cancer patients. Among the 2019 data of the Korea Health Panel, data from 498 adults over the age of 40 who were diagnosed with cancer by doctors were analyzed. As a result of the study, the mean QOL of middle-aged cancer patients was 0.90 (±0.09) and that of elderly cancer patients was 0.86 (±0.12). The QOL of middle-aged cancer patients was significantly higher than that of elderly cancer patients. Factors influencing the QOL of middle-aged cancer patients were subjective health status, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and bedridden status. Factors influencing the QOL of elderly cancer patients were subjective health status, bedridden status, economic activity, education level, regular physical activity, stress, and age. In order to improve the QOL of middle-aged and elderly cancer patients, along with interest in the QOL of middle-aged and elderly cancer patients, it is necessary to develop an age-specific intervention program, such as reducing anxiety and suicidal ideation for middle-aged cancer patients, and improving regular physical activity and reducing stress for elderly cancer patients.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• 제12권4호
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• pp.232-236
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• 2012

Purpose: With an increase in life expectancy, more elderly patients are presenting with gastric cancer. As a result it is yet be resolved whether laparoscopy assisted distal gastrectomy is a suitable treatment for elderly patients with early gastric cancer. This study retrospectively compared surgical outcomes of laparoscopy assisted distal gastrectomy between elderly and nonelderly patients with gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: The study group was comprised of 316 patients who underwent laparoscopy assisted distal gastrectomy between April 2005 and December 2010. Of these patients, 93 patients whose ages were 65 years or more were compared with 223 patients who were younger. Results: There were no differences in the short term outcome or minor complication rate between the elderly patients and the nonelderly patients. The hospital stay was significantly longer and the major complication rate was significantly higher for the elderly patients compared with nonelderly patients. Conclusions: Laparoscopy assisted distal gastrectomy for early gastric cancer in the elderly patients had comparable operation time and blood loss with the nonelderly group. However, the safety and advantage of laparoscopy assisted distal gastrectomy in the elderly patients need to be further studied in higher volume trials.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권22호
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• pp.9875-9877
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• 2014

Objective: To access the safety of chemotherapy for elderly cancer patients complicated with hypertension. Methods: Elderly cancer patients who were complicated with hypertension and treated by chemotherapy were recruited. All patients were treated by chemotherapy after an intervention on hypertension by psychotherapy, exercise guidance, salt regulation and nutrition support, therapy on hypertension, as well as prevention on hypertension associated complications. Results: In 68 eligible patients, two suspended chemotherapy because of adverse reactions and 4 because of disease progression. The remaining 62 patients completed chemotherapy smoothly based on good hypertension control. Conclusion: With effective control of blood pressure, chemotherapy for elderly cancer patients complicated with hypertension is generally safe.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.43-50
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• 2016

Purpose: It is well known that old age is a risk factor for postoperative complications. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the risk factors for poor postoperative surgical outcomes in elderly gastric cancer patients. Materials and Methods: Between January 2006 and December 2015, 247 elderly gastric cancer patients who underwent curative gastrectomy were reviewed. In this study, an elderly patient was defined as a patient aged ${\geq}65$ years. All possible variables were used to explore the risk factors for poor early surgical outcomes in elderly gastric cancer patients. Results: Based on multivariate analyses of preoperative risk factors, preoperative low serum albumin level (<3.5 g/dl) and male sex showed statistical significance in predicting severe postoperative complications. Additionally, in an analysis of surgery-related risk factors, total gastrectomy was a risk factor for severe postoperative complications. Conclusions: Our study findings suggest that low serum albumin level, male sex, and total gastrectomy could be risk factors of severe postoperative complications in elderly gastric cancer patients. Therefore, surgeons should work carefully in cases of elderly gastric cancer patients with low preoperative serum albumin level and male sex. We believe that efforts should be made to avoid total gastrectomy in elderly gastric cancer patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권18호
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• pp.7843-7847
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• 2014

Background: Although breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common malignant diseases in women, the majority of the studies describing the characteristics of BC in elderly patients have been limited to survival assessments or tumor features, without using younger BC patients as a reference group. The aim of our study was to describe and compare tumor characteristics and management patterns in elderly versus younger breast cancer patients in Turkey. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 152 patients with invasive breast cancer who underwent surgery in our institution between 2002 and 2012. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to age at the time of diagnosis. Results: There were 62 patients in the elderly group (${\geq}65$ years) and 90 patients in the younger group (<65 years). Compared to the younger group, tumors in the elderly group were more likely to be larger (p=0.018), of lower grade (p=0.005), and hormone receptor-positive (p>0.001). There were no significant differences regarding histology, localization, lymph node involvement, or types of surgical procedures between the 2 groups. Comorbidities were more common in elderly patients (p<0.001). In addition, elderly patients were more likely to receive hormonal therapy (p<0.001) and less likely to receive radiotherapy (p=0.08) and chemotherapy (p=0.003). There was no difference in survival and locoregional recurrence rates between the groups. Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrate that breast cancer in elderly patients has more favorable tumor features, warranting less aggressive treatment regimens after surgery.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• 제16권4호
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• pp.254-259
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• 2016

Purpose: Owing to increased life expectancy, the number of elderly patients with gastric cancer has increased. This study aimed to identify the outcomes of gastric cancer patients aged 80 years or older through comparison of their clinicopathological characteristics, surgical outcomes, and oncologic outcomes. Materials and Methods: Between January 2006 and December 2013, the records of 478 patients who underwent surgery for gastric cancer were retrospectively evaluated. Patients were divided into two groups: patients <80 years old (n=446) and patients ${\geq}80$ years old (n=32). Results: There were no significant differences in sex, body mass index, length of hospital stay, duration of surgery, depth of invasion, nodal metastasis, histologic type, or tumor size between the two groups. However, significant differences were found for the American Society of Anesthesiologist score and the serum albumin level between the two groups. Postoperative morbidity, mortality, disease-free survival, and recurrence rate did not differ between curatively resected patients in the two groups. Conclusions: In elderly patients with gastric cancer, active treatment including radical gastrectomy is necessary.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제16권9호
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• pp.4045-4049
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• 2015

Objective: To investigate the effect of coenzyme complex on decreasing cardiotoxicity in elderly patients with gastrointestinal cancer who were treated by chemotherapy. Methods: From September 2011 to February 2015, we recruited 54 elderly (with more than 70 years of age) patients with gastrointestinal cancer, with advanced disease. Then treated with chemotherapy combined with or without coenzyme complex. After two cycles of treatment, the effect of coenzyme complex on decreasing cardiotoxicity were evaluated. Results: Chemotherapy was combined with coenzyme complex in 32 patients (22man, 10 woman; median age: 74 years, range: 70-87 years) without coenzyme complex in 22 patients (15man, 7 woman; median age: 73 years, range: 70-80 years) with gastrointestinal cancer. Cardiac event was significantly lower in patients treated with chemotherapy combined with coenzyme complex (p<0.01). Conclusions: Coenzyme Complex decreased cardiotoxicity when combined with chemotherapy in treating elderly patients with gastrointestinal cancer.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• 제29권1호
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• pp.1-10
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• 2011

평균수명이 길어짐에 따라 암 발생률이 증가하고 있고, 보다 고령의 환자가 많아졌다. 자연적으로 고령의 암 환자는 장기 기능이 퇴화되고 동반질환을 갖는 경우가 흔하다. 사회적인 지지부족이나 조기진단의 부족으로 고령 암 환자의 치료는 일반적으로 빈약하다. 그러나 발표된 논문들을 바탕으로 하였을 때 신중히 환자 선택을 하여 암 치료 기간 동안 적극적인 지지치료를 한다면 대부분의 고령환자는 표준 치료를 잘 견디면서 좋은 결과를 얻을 수 있었다. 이에 저자들은 각각의 암에 대한 고령 환자의 치료 순응도와 치료 결과에 대한 논문들을 리뷰해 보았다.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제17권sup3호
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• pp.269-273
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• 2016

Presently, the world population of the elderly is growing. By improving health hygiene and welfare indicators, mortality and birth rates decrease and life expectancy increases, making the present century the century of elderly. Aging is one of the main risk factors for development of cancer, which itself is the second cause of death in old people. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of cancer in the elderly covered by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) insurance program and to obtain suitable programs for cancer screening and early detection, increase patient survival, improve elderly care and to reclaim the cost of treatment in comparison to the national and international statistics. This is a cross-sectional study conducted on all elderly patients diagnosed with malignancy based on their pathology reports. In this study, of the total 75,500 patients covered by IRIB insurance, 17.2% belonged to the elderly group, males accounting for 53.3%. The most common cancers in old men were prostatic cancer (61.3%), colon cancer (10.3%) cancer of the hematologic system, bladder cancer (9.6%), lung cancer (9.1%), thyroid cancer (3.9%) and brain tumors (1.3%). In the elderly women, the most common cancers were breast cancer (80.1%), colon cancer (5.1%), thyroid cancers (4.4%), bladder and hematologic system malignancies (3.6), lung cancer (2.9%) and brain tumors (0.7%). In addition, the prevalence of cancer was almost the same as national and international statistics. With the exception of non-melanoma skin cancer no difference was shown in prevalence of cancer between IRIB elderly patients and the other groups of cancer patients in Iran.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• 제14권3호
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• pp.173-179
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• 2014

Purpose: The prevalence of gastric cancer in the elderly is increasing. The purpose of this study was to clarify factors related to morbidity following gastric cancer surgery in elderly patients. Materials and Methods: For this study, data from 411 patients who underwent curative gastrectomies with lymph node dissections between March 2010 and January 2013 were retrospectively studied using a prospectively designed database. Patients were divided into 2 groups (<70 years vs. ${\geq}70$ years). For each group, perioperative factors were analyzed to determine if they were associated with postoperative morbidity and mortality. Results: Comorbidities were more prevalent in the elderly group (${\geq}70$ years). Intraoperative and postoperative transfusions were also more frequently required in the elderly group. There was no significant difference in the number of retrieved lymph nodes between the 2 groups (44.3 vs. 46.6 nodes). In a comparison of the elderly versus non-elderly groups, the postoperative morbidity rates were 22.7% versus 8.9% (P<0.001) and the postoperative mortality rates were 4.2% versus 0% (P=0.002), respectively. Of the possible non-surgical complications, pulmonary problems were predominately found in the elderly group (P<0.001). Surgical complications were evenly distributed between the 2 groups (P=0.463). Postoperative morbidity was significantly associated with older age and postoperative transfusion. Multivariate analysis showed that higher body mass index (BMI) and postoperative transfusion were important factors associated with postoperative complications in the elderly group. Conclusions: Pulmonary complications were frequently problematic in elderly patients. Higher BMI and postoperative transfusion were significant risk factors for postoperative complications in elderly patients with gastric cancer.