Skip to content

News Health

Health News, Tips, and More

Menu
  • Disclaimer
  • Related Sites
Menu

The Chemotherapy may be harmful for the older patients

Posted on July 29, 2010 by News Health

The prognosis for nearly three-quarters of elderly patients on intensive chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is poor, with a median survival of less than six months, according to a study published online in Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology. AML is the most common form of acute leukemia among adults and is a rapidly growing cancer of the bone marrow that requires immediate treatment. The average age at diagnosis is 67, and more than 12,000 people will be diagnosed with AML this year (according to the National Cancer Institute).

“Recent studies have suggested that intensive chemotherapy might benefit elderly patients with AML, but we found that not to be the case,” said Hagop Kantarjian, MD, Chairman of the Leukemia Department at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and senior author of the study. “Patients who did not have any of the eight-week mortality predictors we identified in the study may benefit from the more intense treatment, but for the majority of AML patients of advanced age, lower-intensity treatments are a better, less risky option.”

Symptoms of AML include fever, frequent infections, tiredness, pale skin, shortness of breath, easy bleeding or bruising, and pain in the bones or joints. Because the disease develops rapidly, doctors usually begin treatment immediately after diagnosis. Treatments for AML include chemotherapy or a transplant with blood cells obtained from the circulating blood or cord blood, though, for most elderly patients, the risks of serious side effects eliminate transplant as a viable option.

As most clinical trials of AML thus far have excluded patients older than 55, physicians have had to infer that treatments that work for younger patients will work for older patients, too. In this study, researchers focused on older patients with AML in order to provide more conclusive information about treatment among this population. Researchers analyzed 446 patients with AML age 70 or older who were given a cytarabine-based intensive chemotherapy regimen between 1990 and 2008. For nearly half of the patients, the therapy was successful in combating the cancer, with 45 percent achieving a complete remission. However, 154 patients (some who were in remission as well as some who were not) died during the first eight weeks after treatment began. Causes of death included both treatment toxicity and ineffective therapy leading to disease progression. The researchers analyzed the patients to identify those most at risk for this eight-week mortality rate and found the following predictive factors:

— age greater than 80 years

— three or more genetic abnormalities

— poor performance as indicated by an ECOG score of 2-4 (Developed by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, a score of zero on this scale indicates a fully active individual with no signs of disease, while a score of five indicates death).

— creatinine levels greater than 1.3 mg (Creatinine levels are an indicator of kidney function, the organ that filters the blood).

The more of these factors patients had, the poorer their survival outcome with intensive chemotherapy. Among those who did not have any of these risk factors (28 percent), only 16 percent had an eight-week mortality rate as compared with a 71 percent mortality rate among patients with three or more adverse factors (9 percent).

“When doctors and patients are discussing intensive chemotherapy as a treatment option for AML, they must take these mortality risk factors into consideration to determine whether the patient is likely to benefit from this type of treatment,” said Dr. Kantarjian.

The American Society of Hematology is the world’s largest professional society concerned with the causes and treatment of blood disorders. Its mission is to further the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disorders affecting blood, bone marrow, and the immunologic, hemostatic, and vascular systems by promoting research, clinical care, education, training, and advocacy in hematology. ASH provides Blood: The Vital Connection , a credible online resource addressing bleeding and clotting disorders, anemia, and cancer. The official journal of ASH is Blood, the most cited peer-reviewed publication in the field, which is available weekly in print and online.

source:   http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/196171.php

3 thoughts on “The Chemotherapy may be harmful for the older patients”

  1. Dollie Kopacz says:
    January 4, 2011 at 5:39 am

    You ought to seriously think about working on growing this blog into a serious voice in this market. You obviously have a good knowledge of the areas all of us are searching for on this website anyways and you could potentially even earn a dollar or three from some advertising. I would explore following recent news and raising the volume of blog posts you make and I bet you’d start earning some great traffic in the near future. Just an idea, good luck in whatever you do!

  2. Buy Backlinks says:
    March 5, 2011 at 7:19 am

    High quality info. Keep up the great work.Very Useful blog

  3. Kieth Tingler says:
    May 16, 2011 at 7:08 am

    I adore your blog site.. excellent colors & motif. Would you actually layout this excellent website on your own and also performed people rely on someone else to get it done for you? Plz react while I!|m planning to design and style my own blog site in addition to wish to find out where by you became this by. many thanks

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Answering Your Questions About Alcohol Rehab
  • 8 Key Home and Personal Hygiene Goals and Objectives for 2023
  • The Importance of Cell and Gene Therapy
  • 9 Ways to Optimize Your Health This Year
  • Healthful Living Resources and Services
  • How to Lose Weight After Many Failed Attempts
  • Tips to Successfully Utilize Telehealth Services
  • How to Keep Your Older Relatives Healthy
  • The Most Physically Demanding Trades That Require Employee Physical Fitness
  • Living a Healthy Lifestyle Tips for Your Home

Archives

March 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Feb    
© 2023 News Health | Powered by Superbs Personal Blog theme