Oncology: chemotherapy for elderly people

Elderly people form a large proportion of cancer patients. This has implications for cancer care, in that age is a substantial risk factor in developing cancer. In spite of efforts to reduce cancer mortality through health education and screening, cancer rates are likely to increase in proportion to the ageing population. It has been suggested that health care professionals generally view elderly people in a negative fashion, which influences the care that these individuals receive. At present, there is a scarcity of information on the nature of cancer in elderly people, their tolerance to cytotoxic treatment, and specific age-related problems. Knowledge in all these areas remains fragmented and the research data conflicting. The nurse plays an important role in assessing and monitoring the impact of cytotoxic chemotherapy treatment. It is, therefore, imperative for cancer nurses to develop specialist knowledge in this area to enable them to understand the effect cytotoxic chemotherapy treatments have on elderly people.