City of Hope oncologists recently brought together leading researchers from across the country for a scientific summit on cancer and aging — the first meeting of oncologists who are addressing pressing issues that surround cancer care in the nation’s growing senior population.
Up-and-coming physicians from a dozen prominent institutions who comprise the Cancer and Aging Research Group gathered on April 21 and 22 at City of Hope to discuss ongoing studies and encourage collaborations among scientists.
Arti Hurria, M.D., director of City of Hope’s Cancer and Aging Research Program in the Division of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research, coordinated the conference, with the assistance and support of Robert A. Figlin, M.D., the Arthur and Rosalie Kaplan Professor of Medical Oncology at City of Hope.
“This is an incredibly exciting field right now because we have the opportunity to make strides in cancer care for the growing aging population,” said Hurria. “Very few people are trained in both geriatrics and oncology, so this meeting is a way to bring these promising geriatric oncology researchers together to share their work, but it’s also a way to encourage academic mentoring within the field.”
Figlin sees the meeting and research consortium as the start of a much-needed movement.
“Geriatric oncology reaches across many diseases and addresses important needs among our patients. We’re excited that City of Hope faculty members are speeding the development of this field and working with other top investigators nationwide,” said Figlin, associate director for clinical research at City of Hope. “We also see it as a way to offer clinical trials to ultimately improve the care of older adults with cancer.”
The meeting included researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, University of Arizona, UCLA, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, UC Irvine, University of Vermont, and Yale, Columbia, Case Western Reserve, Wake Forest and Duke universities.
As Hurria explained, the meeting embodies the thrust of City of Hope’s nascent Cancer and Aging Research Program, which Hurria began in November 2006 after joining City of Hope from Memorial Sloan-Kettering. The program joins investigators from all cancer disciplines to study the “biology, treatment and survivorship issues that face older adults with cancer,” she said.
“Results of our research will apply to the majority of patients with cancer, because about 60 percent of cancer diagnoses and 70 percent of cancer deaths occur in patients older than 65,” she added.
Smita Bhatia, M.D., M.P.H., chair and professor in the Division of Population Sciences, believes the program addresses a significant, growing need. “The number of older patients with cancer, as well as cancer survivors, is rapidly growing because the population is aging,” she said. “The number of patients age 65 and older is expected to double by 2030. We have an obligation to understand the issues surrounding treatment, survival and quality of life of these patients.”
Hurria noted the importance of understanding how therapies affect older patients. “Unfortunately, patients 65 and older have been underrepresented in national cancer clinical trials, which set the standard for oncology care,” she said. Faculty members in the Cancer and Aging Research program at City of Hope now hope to specifically focus on the challenges faced by older adults, challenges that few have explored before.
Older patients may have age-related declines in function that may influence appropriate recommendations for therapy, for example. Or they may take a variety of drugs for other conditions, and those drugs must be balanced with cancer therapeutics. They also may react differently to chemotherapies than younger patients. Hurria and colleagues from surgery, nursing and other areas already have designed several studies in collaboration with members of the consortium to examine ways to better assess older patients with cancer.
The John A. Hartford Foundation supported the conference. The foundation champions health-care training, research and service system innovations that will ensure the well-being and vitality of older adults. Its overall goal is to increase the nation’s capacity to provide effective, affordable care to its rapidly increasing older population. Today, it is the nation’s leading philanthropy with a sustained interest in aging and health.
