Geriatric Oncology

This book is intended as a comprehensive resource for clinicians and researchers seeking in-depth information on geriatric oncology. The coverage encompasses epidemiology, the biology and (patho)physiology of aging and cancer, geriatric assessment and management, hematologic malignancies, solid tumors, issues in patient care, and research methods.  

Since cancer is a disease of aging and people are living longer, most cancer patients are now aged 70 and older. Yet the more we age, the more diverse we become in terms of our health, biologic fitness, and cancer behavior. Typically, however, general oncology clinical trials address only a selected healthier and younger population of patients. Geriatric oncology is the area of oncology that addresses these issues but while a wealth of knowledge has been accumulated, information is often difficult to retrieve or insufficiently detailed. The SpringerReference program, in which this book is published, offers an ideal format for overcoming these limitations since it combines thorough coverage with access to living editions constantly updated chapter by chapter via a dynamic peer-review process, ensuring that information remains current and pertinent.

Martine Extermann, MD, PhD is a Professor of Oncology and Senior Member in Moffitt Cancer Center and the University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA. She is a world leading expert in geriatric oncology, and a past president of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG). She obtained her MD and PhD from the University of Geneva, in Switzerland, and trained as an oncologist-hematologist in Switzerland before moving to Moffitt in 1994. Her research is focused on understanding and managing the impact of comorbidity and geriatric issues on cancer behaviour and treatment, in order to design more evidence-based, personalized treatment plans for older cancer patients. She has designed predictive scores for toxicity from chemotherapy, such as the CRASH score and the MAX2 score. She has received several awards, including ASCO’s BJ Kennedy award and SIOG’s Calabresi award in recognition for her work. She endeavours by various means such as this reference book to make geriatric oncology expertise available on a broad basis worldwide, in order to empower colleagues who treat this rapidly growing number of patients.

Etienne GC Brain, MD PhD, has been working since 1998 as a medical oncologist at the Hôpital René Huguenin (Saint-Cloud, France), now part of the academic centre Institut Curie. He obtained his MD and PhD from University Paris V René Descartes, after leading works in preclinical and clinical pharmacology in Boston (Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Boston University). He was the Deputy Director for Research at Centre René Huguenin from 2008-2009, until the merge with Institut Curie happened in 2010, making this "multi-sites” institution one of the largest dedicated to breast cancer management in Europe.

He is the secretary of the Breast Cancer Group of EORTC. At UNICANCER, he chairs the GERICO group dedicated to clinical research in geriatric oncology. He is very committed to clinical research, involved in many trials covering breast cancer and geriatric oncology. His most recent interest focuses on competing risks for mortality in older breast cancer patients, trying to better define the indication of systemic treatment in adjuvant setting, and is embodied in the national program ASTER 70s granted in 2011 by the French health ministry. He is (co)author of several publications in peer reviewed journals, including the JAMA, Lancet Oncol and J Clin Oncol. He is member of the Editorial Board of the JGeriatric Oncol. He is the current president of SIOG.

William Dale, MD, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine and the Section Chief of Geriatrics & Palliative Medicine at the University of Chicago, with a secondary appointment in Hematology/Oncology.  He is a board-certified geriatrician and palliative medicine physician with a doctorate in health policy. He completed his medical and graduate school training at the University of Chicago and did his residency in internal medicine and fellowship training in geriatrics at the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr Dale is an international speaker who has over 100 publications on medical decision making, behavioral economics, quality of life, and frailty evaluation in older adults, primarily those with cancer. He has received grants from the National Institute on Aging, National Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society, and the Foundation of Informed Medical Decision Making, among others. He is a co-investigator for the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, a survey and biomeasure collection on the health, well-being, and social life of over 3,000 older adults. 

Dr. Dale has devoted his career to the care of older adults with cancer.  In 2006, He established, and still Directs, the Specialized Oncology Care & Research in the Elderly (SOCARE) Clinic at the University of Chicago. SOCARE offers interdisciplinary, individualized, and integrated treatment to optimize quality of life for older cancer patients. It provides a special environment for addressing the issues relevant to older cancer patients and their loved ones while integrating research into this special clinic environment.

Tamas Fulop, MD, PhD, is Professor of Medicine and Geriatrics, and Senior Researcher at the Research Center on Aging, University of Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada. He is deputy director of Research Center on Aging and member of Graduate Immunology Programme. Past President of Société Québecoise de Gériatrie (2007-2012). Directed the Biology Research Programme of Research Center on Aging for over 10 years. MD degree at Geneva University and PhD in Biochemistry and Immunology from  Hungarian Academy of Sciences and post-doctoral fellow at University Paris XII in Biochemistry. Dr. Fulop’s NSERC and CIHR funded research since 1994 is focused on immune response changes in T cells and neutrophils and the mechanism of inflammation with^230 publications; recipient of  Presidential Award of  IAGG; fellow of GSA since 2001. Served on: three IAG congresses;  GSA Publications Committee and BS executive committee; editorial boards of Pathology Biology, Immunity and Aging, European Geriatric Medicine; editor-in-chief of  Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology, and co-director of undergraduate geriatric teaching program.

Heidi Klepin, MD, MS, is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine. She completed fellowships in both Hematology/Oncology and Geriatrics at Wake Forest School of Medicine. Additional training includes a master’s degree in Health Sciences Research. Her clinical and academic focus is geriatric oncology. Dr. Klepin’s research focuses on three themes:  (1) developing improved pretreatment assessment strategies for geriatric cancer patients with a focus on evaluation of physical and cognitive function; (2) investigating the impact of cancer therapy on physical and cognitive function; and (3) developing interventions to improve functional outcomes for older adults undergoing chemotherapy. She received an ASP-ASH Junior Faculty Scholar Award in Clinical/Translational Research and a Paul B. Beeson (K23) Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award in Aging. She is an active member of ASCO (member Cancer Research Committee), ASH (member Educational Affairs Committee), Alliance (member subcommittee on Cancer in the Elderly and Health Outcomes), the Cancer and Aging Research Group and the Society of International Geriatric Oncology.