Older people are major beneficiaries as science develops more precisely-targeted therapies that are both effective and more tolerable to those 65 and over. The revolution has already started.

Cancer becomes more common as people age. And everyone hopes to age! The American Cancer Society has estimated that approximately 55% of the new cases of cancer in 2008¹ occurred among the approximately 13% of the population over 65². With the aging of the US population, there will be many more cases of cancer in this group.

People 65 and over are particularly vulnerable to the well-known noxious side effects of chemotherapy and radiation. These most commonly used treatments affect all cells - cancer and healthy cells alike. Older patients are particularly vulnerable because they are more likely to have other diseases which complicate treatment, to be frailer and to be more sensitive to toxicity from chemo. These treatments are particularly challenging to the body’s ability make blood cells, which already diminishes as people age.

Because of these vulnerabilities, most doctors have traditionally not treated cancer in older people as aggressively as in younger people. So those 65 and up will be great beneficiaries of new ways being developed to treat cancer. The revolution of targeted therapies has already started.

Targeted therapies are drugs that are designed to intervene in a very precise way in the malfunctioning cellular process that is causing cancer. Because it is targeted at this specific malfunction, the drug generally has minimal affect on healthy cells. Some targeted therapies will be used alone and others will be used in combination with chemo or radiation in a way that reduces their use and their side effects.

One of the most promising strategies for attacking cancer without the intolerable side effects is epigenetics, or reprogramming the signals that control cell behavior. The purpose is to make chaotically growing cancer cells start to mature like normal cells and die. Precisely-targeted epigenetic drugs have already been approved by the FDA for acute leukemia, for a particular lymphoma and for myelodysplastic syndrome (which is the fastest growing form of blood malignancy among people 65+). Researchers funded by the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation used this strategy to cure acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). The Foundation focuses on this type of research.