Population of older cancer survivors is expected to increase
Breast cancer patients who buy Canadian Tamoxifen at a fraction of the cost may be able to improve their quality of life as they fight their disease.
Breast cancer patients who buy Canadian Tamoxifen at a fraction of the cost may be able to improve their quality of life as they fight their disease. As more people overcome cancer, the proportion of survivors aged 65 years or older is expected to increase, which is a challenge the healthcare system may need to prepare for, according to a new study.
"We can expect a dramatic increase in the number of older adults who are diagnosed with or carry a history of cancer," said Julia Rowland, Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute. "Cancer is largely a disease of aging, so we're seeing yet another effect of the baby boom generation and we need to prepare for this increase."
In 1971, the year the National Cancer Act was signed, the cancer survivor population totaled 3 million. In 2008, that number had jumped to 12 million, according to the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). In the next 10 years, the proportion of this population older than 65 is expected to increase by 42 percent, as published in the October issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.
The most common cancers among survivors were of the breast, prostate and colorectal carcinomas. Early detection and screening may be responsible for improved survival rates, according to researchers.
Medical professionals may need to deal with the unique challenges of aging cancer survivors, especially because the numbers of oncologists and geriatric specialists in the field are going down, Rowland said.
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