Prevalence of co-morbidity in newly diagnosed patients with cancer: a population-based study

Relevance
The presence of serious co-morbid conditions in newly diagnosed cancer patients, especially in the elderly, has at least three clinical implications. First, such conditions may be independent determinants of prognosis (regardless of treatment choice); second, their presence may modify treatment choice and/or its proper execution 1, 2; third, they may indicate a need for complex and tailor-made care. Such care usually requires refinement of guidelines that are derived from clinical trials, ...
Comments
Except for chronic infections, auto-immune conditions, central nervous system, liver and digestive diseases, the prevalence of co-morbidity clearly increased with increasing age. The conditions having the highest prevalence were cardiovascular disease, hypertension and another cancer (excluding basal cell carcinoma of the skin and carcinoma in-situ). A substantial proportion of older cancer patients suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes mellitus (Table 1). Adequate ...
Conclusion
The majority of elderly patients newly diagnosed with cancer also suffer from serious co-morbid conditions, which may require an adaptation of the more general treatment guidelines to produce a programme of management that is tailor-made for each individual in this particular group. It would seem prudent that studies of specific clinical problems—e.g. those that occur post-operatively—are made in these patients before considering entering them into clinical trials.