Publisher's Synopsis
This scientific update has been produced as a result of a meeting held in Paris in January 1997, under the auspices of EONS (European Oncology Nursing Society) and ESO (European School of Oncology), where experts from medical and nursing fields gave presentations and discussed the problems relating to cancer in the elderly. Cancer is predominantly a disease of old age and the incidence of cancer is, therefore, greater in the older section of the population. Yet our knowledge of elderly-specific treatment regimens and nursing interventions is poor. Epidemiological studies show that the number of elderly people, and thus the number of cases of cancer, will increase dramatically over the next 25 years. This update seeks to examine current knowledge and practice of cancer care for the elderly, to highlight inadequacies and to point to ways in which practice may be improved and future research contribute to our understanding of cancer in the elderly.
