International Journal of Hematology and Oncology 2024, Vol 34, Num 3 Page(s): 028-033
Cancer Evaluation in Geriatric Population: A Single Institution Experience

Fatma P. TURKOZ1, Saadet TOKLUOGLU1, Ayse G. DURNALI1, Arife ULAS1, Erkan ARPACI1, Tarkan YETISYIGIT1, Gokhan CELENKOGLU1, Necati ALKIS1

Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital, Department of 1. Medical Oncology, Ankara, TURKEY

Keywords: Cancer, Elderly, Geriatry
Increasing life expectancy and increasing cancer incidence with aging will result in expansion of the elderly cancer population. Cancer epidemiology trials of patients aged 70 years or older are very rare in the literature and only subgroup analysis are presented. The objective of our study was to evaluate the cancer distribution, rates and trends in geriatric population. 90,472 patients with cancer diagnosis, who were admitted to our hospital between January 2005 and December 2009, were identified through a search in the hospital-based computer database, retrospectively. 9682 (10.7%) patients aged 70 years or older were analyzed for social-demographic characteristics, cancer distribution, rates and trends. 4,954 male (51.2%) and 4,728 female (48.8%) patients, age ranged from 70 to 96 years, with a median age of 75 years were analyzed. Ten leading cancer types were breast (15.8%), prostate (9.9%), colorectal (9.6%), lung (9.4%), skin (6.7%), gastric (6.6%), bladder (6.3%), nonhodgkin lymphoma (4.7%), over (2.8%) and endometrium (2.7%) in elderly. The number of new cancer cases significantly increased by years, for both men and women (p< 0.001). Cancers of gastrointestinal tract, lung, breast, head-neck and skin showed significant increasing trends (p< 0.001); whereas brain, gynecologic and urinary tract cancers had stable trends in both sexes (p>0.05). In conclusion, a comprehensive cancer statistic in geriatric population will be decisive in determining the health policies. Breast, cervical, colorectal and prostate cancers are the types of cancer for which early screening has been shown to reduce mortality. Cancer screening should be attentively applied in elderly patients.