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Article: Oncology nursing society and Geriatric Oncology Consortium joint position on cancer care for older adults.(ONCOLOGY NURSING SOCIETY POSITION)
- Article from:
- Oncology Nursing Forum
- Article date:
- May 1, 2007
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Oncology Nursing Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Most cancers are diagnosed in patients older than the age of 65, yet older adults with cancer are a medically underserved segment of the U.S. population (Yancik & Ries, 2000). Compared with younger adults, those 65 years or older are less likely to be screened for cancer and when a diagnosis of cancer is made, are less likely to be offered curative therapy or participation in clinical trials (Kearney, Miller, Paul, & Smith, 2000). Older adults may receive less aggressive therapy than younger adults (Truong, Bernstein, Lesperance, Speers, & Olivotto, 2006). Clinicians may hold ageist beliefs that older adults will not tolerate current therapeutic modalities as well as ...