Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death in the elderly. However, elderly patients with CRC tend to be under-presented in clinical trials and undertreated in clinical practice. Advanced age alone should not be the only criteria to preclude effective therapy in elderly patients with CRC. The best guide about optimal cancer treatment can be provided by comprehensive geriatric assessment. Elderly patients with stage III colon cancer can enjoy the same benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin or capecitabine as younger patients, without a substantial increase in toxicity. With conflicting results of retrospective studies and a lack of data available from randomized studies, combined modality treatment should be used with great caution in elderly patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. Combination chemotherapy can be considered for older patients with metastatic CRC. For elderly patients who are frail or vulnerable, however, monotherapy or a stop-and-go strategy may be desirable. The use of targeted therapies in older patients with metastatic CRC appears to be promising in view of their better efficacy and toxicity. Treatment should be individualized based on the nature of the disease, the physiologic or functional status, and the patient's preference.
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9 October 2018 in Gastroenterology Research and Practice
Objective.Several recent reviews of published studies have shown that the eradication ofH. pyloriinfection in patients with ITP improved thrombocytopenia in about half of the cases. However, most included studies were observational case series. We performed the first meta-analysis of randomized trials to gain a better insight into the effect ofH. pylorieradication in ITP patients.Methods.A systematic computerized search of the electronic databases including PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library (up to December 2017) was conducted.Results.From six studies, a total of 241 patients (125 in eradication group and 116 in control group) were included in the meta-analysis. Patients in the eradication group showed significantly higher overall platelet response rate than those in the control group (odds ratio = 1.93, 95% confidence interval: 1.01–3.71,). In the subgroup analysis, however, children in the eradication group failed to show statistically better response rate than those in the noneradication group (odds ratio = 1.80, 95% confidence interval: 0.88–3.65,).Conclusions.This meta-analysis indicates thatH. pylorieradication has a significant therapeutic effect in patients with ITP. Considering the intrinsic limits in the design and sample size of the included studies, however, large randomized controlled trials are warranted to validate the therapeutic impact ofH. pylorieradication in adults as well as children with ITP.