Treatment of muscle invasive bladder cancer in the elderly: navigating the trade-offs of risk and benefit

Noam A. VanderWalde, Michelle T. Chi, Arti Hurria, Matthew D. Galsky, Matthew E. Nielsen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: Despite the fact that bladder cancer patients have the highest median age of any type of cancer, older patients with muscle invasion are often under-treated. Methods: In this review, we report the most up to date literature on the patterns of care and treatment of older patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer. Data on under-treatment, geriatric principles, cystectomy, perioperative chemotherapy, and bladder preservation for older patients are presented and analyzed. Conclusion: Chronologic age should not exclude patients from curative-intent therapy. Functional age as determined by geriatric assessments and multidisciplinary evaluation can help clinicians decide on the best course of treatment for individual patients. Cystectomy, perioperative chemotherapy, and curative-intent bladder preservation are reasonable options in healthy older adults. Observation should be limited to patients with extremely poor performance status and very limited life expectancy.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3-11
Number of pages9
JournalWorld Journal of Urology
Volume34
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2016

Keywords

  • Antineoplastic agents
  • Cystectomy
  • Geriatric assessment
  • Radiotherapy
  • Urinary bladder neoplasms

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Treatment of muscle invasive bladder cancer in the elderly: navigating the trade-offs of risk and benefit'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this