Older patients missing out on fair treatment

Research shows older patients are significantly less likely to receive surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy despite treatment improvements over the last ten years.

24 Feb

Recent research funded by Breakthrough and others shows that some older patients are not benefitting from the advances in radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery over the last ten years that have dramatically improved the survival chances of younger patients:

Breast cancer patients aged over 80 are 40 times less likely to receive surgery than younger patients
Where surgery does take place older women are significantly less likely to receive breast conserving surgery
Older women are significantly less likely to receive standard treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy than younger women

Breakthrough’s Every Chance campaign is calling for treatment to be based on clinical need rather than age and seeks to open the debate around the issue of age equality. We are campaigning to ensure that regardless of age, all breast cancer patients have every chance to:

Access the treatments and care that will benefit them
Access appropriate clinical trials
Make informed choices about their treatment

And that all women over 70 and who are no longer routinely invited to breast screening have every chance to access this vital life-saving service.

Daphne Cook

When Daphne Cook was diagnosed with breast cancer aged 74 her consultant told her she needn’t have potentially life-saving radiotherapy as being older may make it difficult for her to get to the hospital. Luckily for Daphne, her daughter, a health professional, was with her and questioned the consultant’s reasoning.

Mrs Cook, now 87, a grandmother of seven and great-grandmother of six, said:

“I didn’t understand the importance of radiotherapy treatment, and I certainly wouldn’t have pushed for it. I feel extremely lucky that my daughter asked the consultant whether radiotherapy was being recommended as she felt that this should be a clinical decision and not one based on how difficult it would be for me to get to the hospital! My resulting treatment was excellent and I’m glad to say I’ve had over 10 years of good health since my treatment to enjoy my family growing up.”