Charity warns that older people ‘not getting fair deal’ on cancer care

Macmillan Cancer Support said there is no significant difference by age group or stage of cancer at diagnosis on the likelihood of people opting out of a certain treatment such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

It also found that while older people are confident in pursuing treatment, they are less likely to question decisions about which treatment might be best for them.

The charity said it is concerned that older people are therefore missing out on the full range of different treatments available.

Previous research found younger cancer patients were more likely to have surgery for 19 cancer types, with the largest differences between age groups seen in kidney and ovarian cancers.

Cancer Research UK found that surgery was performed on 73 per cent of all kidney cancer patients aged between 15 and 54, but this halved to 36 per cent of patients aged between 75 and 84, and fell to just 11 percent of patients over 85.

Macmillan Cancer Support said it has been suggested this is because older people may be more likely to turn down treatment, but said their latest research challenges this view.

They found that, when offered treatment, the vast majority of people will usually opt to receive it, with just two per cent turning it down.

Jagtar Dhanda, head of inclusion at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “Older people are simply not getting a fair deal when it comes to cancer care. We know they do not currently have the same access to cancer treatments or the same rates of survival as younger people.

“This research reveals, for the first time, that we would be wrong to assume that the reason for this is down to older people refusing cancer treatment more than younger patients.

“So the question now is - why are older people not getting the cancer treatment they need? We are worried judgments about older people are being made on the basis of their age rather than their actual capacity or preference to receive treatment. And we hope that this research will help to challenge this.”