First-line treatment strategies for elderly patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer ranks third in incidence in both men and women after lung, breast and prostate cancer. The prevalence of colorectal cancer increases significantly with age, with 40% of patients in Europe being >75 years of age at the time of initial diagnosis. Furthermore, the number of elderly patients with colorectal cancer is expected to increase significantly over the next two decades. Treatment of advanced colorectal cancer has evolved dramatically over the last decade. Advances in surgery and chemotherapy are effective in prolonging time to disease progression and survival in patients with advanced colorectal cancer. For >40 years, fluorouracil has been the mainstay of chemotherapy for advanced colorectal cancer. Recently, however, newer cytotoxic chemotherapies and biological agents effective against colorectal cancer have been shown to improve overall survival in metastatic disease. Thus, a patient with metastatic colorectal cancer today has an expected median survival of 20 months compared with 10 months only a few years ago. There is evidence that elderly individuals derive as much survival benefit from standard chemotherapy approaches in metastatic colorectal cancer as younger patients. Unfortunately, most older patients who might benefit from chemotherapy are not offered this treatment, and the fraction who are not offered it increases with increasing age. Treatment decisions should not be made on the basis of age. Rather, they should be based on functional status, the presence of co-morbidities, and consideration of drug-specific toxicities that can be aggravated in older individuals because of decreased functional reserve. Although the elderly have been under-represented in clinical trials, studies also support the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy in elderly patients with advanced colorectal cancer. This article reviews current optimal first-line treatment strategies for elderly patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.