Older adults with colon cancer are not different from younger ones, but treated differently: Retrospective analysis...

Decision- making of the treatment of colon cancer for the older patients becomes more complicated in consequence of comorbidities and geriatric syndromes, most importantly frailty. In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether there is a difference between tumour characteristics, treatment choices, and outcomes between the younger and older adults.

The patients who were diagnosed with colorectal carcinoma in our centre between 2010 and 2015 included. Clinicopathological features of tumour, treatment choices and survivals of the patients were recorded. Patients were separated into two groups according to their chronological age.

The present study included 465 patients, there were 173 patients aged 65 years and older. Clinicopathological features were similar in both groups. Adjuvant chemotherapy was given in similar rates. Whereas combination chemotherapies were preferred in younger patients as first-line therapy, single agents were given to the older group(p-value < 0.001). No significant differences were observed between combination therapy and monotherapy as progression-free and overall survival in older adults(p value > 0.05). It was observed that 53.2% of the older patients was not treated with any biological treatment (p-value < 0.001).

Geriatric people are underrepresented in clinical trials,because of the presence of the limitations in the older patients. The results of our study revealed older patients with colon cancer patients underwent surgery less than the younger ones, they recieved monotherapy more frequently as first-line chemotherapy, and less frequently targeted therapy. Their mortality was higher. It was shown that decision-making of colon cancer therapy is influenced by age according to our results.