Original Research Article
Year: 2020 | Month: June | Volume: 7 | Issue: 6 | Pages: 168-175
Upward Trend of Geriatric Patients in Oncology at a Tertiary Health Care Centre
Krishnangshu Bhanja Choudhury1, Sucheta Biswas2, Debdeep Samaddar2, Pritha Roy2, Sumitavo Ghosh2, Anindita Saha2
1Assistant Professor, 2MD Post Graduate Trainee,
Department of Radiotherapy, R. G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, Kolkata, India.
Corresponding Author: Sucheta Biswas
ABSTRACT
Introduction: There is an upward trend in life expectancy resulting in an increased ratio of geriatric population (aged above 70 years) among Indian over the past few decades. The incidence of cancer among the aged is simultaneously coinciding with this trend. However, data is largely deficit, especially from eastern part of India. The aim of this study was to determine the burden of disease and pattern of care among geriatric cancer patients, treated at a tertiary health care centre.
Materials And Methods: All the patients aged above 70 years with treatment naïve histology proven solid tumours registered at our centre, from 01.01.2015 to 31.12.2019 were selected for this study. The baseline demographic profile, cancer subsites along with treatment provided were analysed using SPSS version 16 (IBM Inc, Armonk, New York, U.S.). Descriptive data are provided.
Results: The annual number of geriatric cancer patients registered at our centre has increased from 0.91% in 2015 to 2019 (3.9%). Males were more affected than females except in 2016, when cancer detection rate was 64% in females. Median age increased from 72 years in 2015 to 75 years in 2019. Breast carcinoma was most common among females. In males head neck and lung were most common primary subsites. Unlike in 2015, cancer detected in early stages was 61.9% which reduced to 15.5% in 2019, a fact attributed to increased use of PET CT scan. In 2019, 49.5% patients were treated with curative intent which was less than 61.9% in 2015.
Conclusion: Though the incidence is less than 5% at one tertiary health care centre, combined pan Indian data is required to document this rising geriatric cancer patients, so that hospital as well as hospice based cancer management can be provided to them.
Keywords: geriatric cancer, curative, palliative
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