Aggressive Surgery for Nonfatal Skin Cancers Might Not Be Best for All Elderly Patients

Note: UCSF Researcher Eleni Linos, MD, MPH, PhD, is a CTSI KL2 Scholar.

By Elizabeth Fernandez via UCSF.edu

Surgery is often recommended for skin cancers, but older, sicker patients can endure complications as a result and may not live long enough to benefit from the treatment.        

A new study led by UC San Francisco focused on the vexing problem of how best to handle non-melanoma skin cancers – which are very common -- among frail, elderly patients. In the study sample, the researchers found that most non-melanoma skin cancers were typically treated surgically, regardless of the patient’s life expectancy or whether the tumor was likely to recur or harm the patient.

One in five patients in the study reported a complication from the skin cancer treatment, and approximately half the patients with limited life expectancy died of other causes within five years.

 

As a result, the authors say, doctors should take into consideration the benefits, risk and preference of a patient when determining appropriate treatment for nonfatal skin cancers.

The study was published online on April 29 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Read more at UCSF.edu

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