Too old to be given cancer treatment: NHS is 'writing off' patients who are over 75
- Young lung cancer sufferers are only 10 per cent more likely to die within five years than their continental counterparts
- But pensioners with the disease have 44 per cent less chance of survival
- The figure for stomach cancer – at 45 per cent – is even worse
Pensioners with cancer are being written off as too old to treat, campaigners said yesterday.
They cited figures showing survival rates for British patients aged 75 and over are among the worst in Europe.
Young lung cancer sufferers are only 10 per cent more likely to die within five years than their continental counterparts.
But pensioners with the disease have 44 per cent less chance of survival.
The figure for stomach cancer – at 45 per cent – is even worse.
And Britons with prostate cancer are a fifth less likely to survive than Europeans if they are 85 and over.
Just 43 per cent live for five years, compared with up to 67 per cent over the Channel.
Patients in their 70s and 80s with kidney cancer have a 32 per cent survival rate, compared with 46-53 per cent in Europe.
Ciarán Devane, of Macmillan Cancer Support, which helped produce the figures, said: ‘It’s wrong to write off older people as too old for treatment. With a proper assessment and appropriate treatment, our research shows that many older cancer patients can live for a long time and can even be cured.
‘While it’s good news that so many older people are benefiting from treatment, many thousands more could live longer if our survival rates for over 65s matched those in comparable countries.
The barriers to getting treatment – which include age discrimination and inadequate assessment methods – must be tackled now so more older people can survive cancer and live for many years.’
The study, which is the first of its kind, also reveals there are more than 8,000 people alive today who have lived for the same time period following diagnosis at 80 or over.
The research from Macmillan and the National Cancer Intelligence Network shows that more than 130,000 Britons have survived for at least ten years after being diagnosed with cancer at 65 or over.
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The research from Macmillan and the National Cancer Intelligence Network shows that more than 130,000 Britons have survived for at least ten years after being diagnosed with cancer at 65 or over
Octogenarian women do particularly well, with twice as many surviving for ten or 20 years as men.
Survival rates for the over-75s are worse in Britain than Europe for nine out of ten common cancers.
A small survival advantage is seen for sufferers of melanoma skin cancer.
Caroline Abrahams, of the charity Age UK, said: ‘It’s good news that with the right care and treatment older people can survive for many years after cancer.
'It is often forgotten that people over 75 represent a third of all cancer diagnoses and a half of all cancer deaths.
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Survival rates for the over-75s are worse in Britain than Europe for nine out of ten common cancers
‘People over 80 with the disease are the only age group in which mortality rates have got worse in the last 40 years.
'An individual’s date of birth should not be used as a proxy for health and fitness or influence treatment decisions.
‘Assessments of older people must be based on their needs and not simply on their age. Anything else is blatant age discrimination.’
Mark Porter, chairman of council at the British Medical Association, said: ‘It is important that all healthcare professionals ensure that patients are treated on the basis of clinical need.
‘With an increasingly ageing population, it should be a key part of medical professionalism to guarantee that older patients are treated with the care and respect they deserve.’
Around 60,000 cases of cancer are diagnosed each year in Britons aged 75 and over.
One in four are prostate sufferers. Gerald Shenton, 78, from Staffordshire, said: ‘I was first diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma in 2000, and I am still here 13 years later, although I’ve suffered from every side effect in the book.
‘I never really had any aftercare because I have always been treated as end stage. I was turned down for a possible treatment twice, being told unofficially that it was because of my age.’
Mick Peake, of the National Cancer Intelligence Network, said: ‘It is vital all patients receive the best and most effective treatment based on the nature of their cancer and their fitness for treatment and that chronological age alone is not the deciding factor.’
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