Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2015 Jun 10:10:939-49.
doi: 10.2147/CIA.S74322. eCollection 2015.

Bladder cancer in the elderly patient: challenges and solutions

Elizabeth A Guancial  1 , Breton Roussel  2 , Derek P Bergsma  3 , Kevin C Bylund  3 , Deepak Sahasrabudhe  1 , Edward Messing  4 , Supriya G Mohile  1 , Chunkit Fung  1
Affiliations
Review

Bladder cancer in the elderly patient: challenges and solutions

Elizabeth A Guancial et al. Clin Interv Aging. .

Abstract

Bladder cancer (BC) is an age-associated malignancy with increased prevalence in the elderly population. Elderly patients are a vulnerable population at increased risk for treatment-related toxicity secondary to medical comorbidities and geriatric syndromes. As a result, this population has been historically undertreated and suffers worse disease-specific outcomes than younger patients with BC. Recognition of this disparity has led to efforts to individualize treatment decisions based on functional status rather than chronologic age in an effort to optimize the use of curative therapies for the fit elderly and modify treatments to reduce the risk of toxicity and disease-related morbidity in vulnerable or frail patients. The comprehensive geriatric assessment is a decision framework that helps to balance underlying health considerations and risks of therapy with aggressiveness of the cancer. Development of systemic therapies with increased efficacy against BC and reduced toxicity are eagerly awaited, as are techniques and interventions to reduce the morbidity from surgery and radiation for patients with BC.

Keywords: bladder cancer; chemotherapy; elderly; quality of life; radiation therapy; surgery.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Surveillance Research Program . SEER Stat Fact Sheets: Bladder. National Cancer Institute; 2013. [Accessed April 12, 2015]. Available from: http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/urinb.html.
    1. International Bladder Cancer Nomogram Consortium. Bochner BH, Kattan MW, Vora KC. Postoperative nomogram predicting risk of recurrence after radical cystectomy for bladder cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2006;24(24):3967–3972. - PubMed
    1. Loehrer PJ, Sr, Einhorn LH, Elson PJ, et al. A randomized comparison of cisplatin alone or in combination with methotrexate, vinblastine, and doxorubicin in patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma: a cooperative group study. J Clin Oncol. 1992;10(7):1066–1073. - PubMed
    1. Siegel R, Naishadham D, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2013. CA Cancer J Clin. 2013;63(1):11–30. - PubMed
    1. Novara G, Catto JW, Wilson T, et al. Systematic review and cumulative analysis of perioperative outcomes and complications after robot-assisted radical cystectomy. Eur Urol. 2015;67(3):376–401. - PubMed