Older patients of colorectal or bowel cancer are less likely to receive chemotherapy post surgery than their younger counterparts, reveals a novel study.
Researchers at Harvard University’s Medical School, U.S., have found that though older patients are less liable to receive chemotherapy, when they do get treated, they face lesser side effects as the doses are less noxious and given for smaller time-frame contrary to younger patients.
Lead researcher, Dr. Robert Fletcher, Harvard Medical School said, “Clinical trials have shown that surgery with chemotherapy helps patients live longer than surgery alone but it is not an option always open to the elderly.”
675 patients studied
