An older woman is likely to have age related health conditions. We wanted to know what are those other conditions and how they interact with the breast cancer. We now know, thanks to the study. More research is crucial in order to determine if treatment should differ according to age and health status, say the authors of the study. Yancik advocates research and development of an assessment tool that clinicians can use to communicate with each other about the influence of age related diseases on the cancer.
Breast cancer is second only to lung cancer as the most common cause of cancer death in women.
Breast cancer could become an even greater public health concern as the proportion of women over 65 increases from the current 14.5 percent to a projected 21.3 percent in 2030. The study results were reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association . This Web Page was developed by Dutchess County Department of Planning and Development and Office For The Aging .