Palliative Care in Older Patients With Cancer

In general, cancer is a disease of aging, and palliative care is an essential step in the management of cancer in patients who are older. The goal of this article is to review common symptoms of cancer and oncology treatment and their management.

The pertinent medical literature was reviewed.

The scope of palliative care includes personalized cancer treatment. This involves choosing treatment options that best fit the needs of each individual patient. Balancing treatment benefits and risks may be challenging in older patients, many of whom have limited life expectancies and decreased functional reserves. The benefits of treatment may diminish, and the risks of such treatment options increase with age. Thus, the first step toward personalized treatment includes determining physiological age, which is best estimated with a comprehensive geriatric assessment. Prevention of common complications, which include neutropenia and mucositis, allows the administration of treatment in full and effective doses. Fatigue is a chronic symptom related to cancer and its treatment and may lead to functional dependence and an increased risk of death. Fatigue might be prevented by daily exercise even during treatment. Other symptoms include pain and feelings of memory loss.

The scope of palliative care encompasses more issues that symptom management and, for this reason, palliative care should be provided once the diagnosis of cancer is established. Determining treatment goals is essential to improve the treatment experience. Symptom management is similar in older and young patients, but symptoms in the older population may be associated with more frequent and severe complications. Many options exist to prevent and ameliorate the complications of oncology treatment in the aged. However, more studies should be conducted on the long-term care of older patients who have survived cancer.