%0 Journal Article
%T Esophageal cancer in the elderly: an analysis of the factors associated with treatment decisions and outcomes
%A David Tougeron
%A Hadji Hamidou
%A Michel Scott¨¦
%A Fr¨¦d¨¦ric Di Fiore
%A Michel Antonietti
%A Bernard Paillot
%A Pierre Michel
%J BMC Cancer
%D 2010
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2407-10-510
%X All consecutive patients 70 years or older being treated for EC were retrospectively analyzed. Patients without visceral metastasis were divided into two groups: treatment with curative intent (chemoradiotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy, mucosectomy or photodynamic therapy) or best supportive care (BSC). Patients with metastasis were divided into two groups: palliative treatment (chemotherapy, chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy) or BSC.Two hundred and eighty-two patients were studied. Mean age was 76.5 ¡À 5.5 years and 22.4% of patients had visceral metastasis. In patients without visceral metastasis (n = 220) the majority had treatment with curative intent (n = 151) whereas in patients with metastasis (n = 62) the majority had BSC (n = 32). Severe adverse events (¡Ý grade 3) were observed in only 17% of the patients. Patients without specific carcinologic treatment were older, had more weight loss, worse WHO performance status and Charlson score in multivariate analysis.Our results suggest that elderly patients with an EC could benefit from cancer treatment without major toxicities. Weight loss, WHO performance status and the Charlson score could be used to select the appropriate treatment in an elderly patient.In the USA, oesophageal cancer (EC) occurs in patients over 60 and 75 years of age in 44% and 30% respectively [1]. Similar data have been published in different European countries [2]. Management of elderly patients with EC remains a therapeutic challenge and the most relevant treatment modalities are still being debated. Although survival improvement has been observed over the past decade, EC treatment continues to be significantly influenced by age [3]. Moreover, it has also been reported that elderly patients have undergone less surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy than younger patients [4].To our knowledge, no specific data have been published regarding therapeutic strategy in elderly patients with EC. Despite progress in surgical practice, oesophagectomy
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2407/10/510