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← Return to Pancreatic lesion 89 yr old dad. Dr not sure if he can be treated.
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Pancreatic lesion 89 yr old dad. Dr not sure if he can be treated.
Pancreatic Cancer | Last Active: Apr 9 4:36pm | Replies (12)Comment receiving replies
@judithbramson12 had Whipple at Mayo/Jax (Dr. Stauffer) in 2022, which would have been age 82 if I read her post here https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/bloathas-anyone-experienced-bloat/?pg=2 correctly. That's absolutely amazing.
My dad was 84 and in OK health when his pleural mesothelioma was discovered, but every surgery on the books was ruled out as too hard on him. He took an immunotherapy treatment for about 4 months, and that about killed him. Once off that, he survived about 7 months of up and down, mostly down.
My father-in-law was 83 and in so-so health when he needed a heart stent and treatment for kidney cancer. The surgeons in both camps didn't want to touch him, basically daring the other one to go first. He wound up eventually getting both a few months apart, but we almost lost him a couple times. He's still on an adjuvant immunotherapy from the kidney removal, but testing negative for his cancers. One tough SOB (and former USMC).
@stageivsurvivor is correct about performance status being a bigger eligibility determinant than age. A quick search of trials at https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?cond=cancer&locStr=USA&country=United%20States with generic criteria of Location=USA and Condition=Cancer for all ages returns 45,510 trials.
If you add a filter limiting age to 65+, it returns 42,233.
If you manually specify an age range from 65 to 85, 99, or 1000, it returns the same 42,233.
That may be a limitation of their search engine or how they specify age items in their database, but it reinforces the idea that age (outside of adulthood at 18 or senior status at 65) is not a strict criteria for many trials.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find a search filter for performance status in my brief trip through the site.
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I’m aware of the age restriction on clinical trials from my position as a research patient advocate on the GI Cancers Committee of the non-profit ECOG-ACRIN (Eastern Comprehensive Oncology Group-Academy of Clinical Radiology and Imaging Network. They are one of the larger organizations that propose, design and conduct clinical trials of all cancer types. This is also the organization that developed the ECOG patient physical assessment score to determine eligibility into a clinical trial.
I am also a research patient advocate on the Cancer Communications Committee of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)-the largest cancer organization of its type for oncologists with worldwide membership. In my role on this committee, I am required to read hundreds of abstracts of clinical studies submitted prior to publication. Many of the abstracts deal with GI cancers such as colorectal, lung, esophageal, pancreatic, liver, bile duct and ampullary cancers. I don’t recall any having a patient cohort over age 85.