The Effects of Ageing on Cancer Chemotherapy

Funded Activity Summary

There is evidence that elderly cancer patients are often inappropriately treated because of their age. This is usually because of concerns that aged patients can not eliminate drugs as well as the young and, as a result, could end up being overdosed. Some drugs are removed from the body through the urine and adjusting for decreased kidney function (which often decreases with age) means that adequate doses can be calculated. However, many anti-cancer drugs are removed from the body by being broken down (or metabolised) in the liver. The rate of this process is very difficult to estimate. Although many studies have shown that liver drug metabolism is decreased with age, it is unclear whether this is due strictly to age itself or some of the conditions which accompany ageing. We aim to study the removal of anti-cancer drugs in patients treated for cancer to see what the effects of ageing are. We will estimate the extent of liver breakdown and examine whether it is a function of age or rather of several factors which are often associated with age such as inflammation, reduced nutritional status and other medical conditions. The optimal outcome of the study will be methods for correctly adjusting the dose of anticancer drugs for maximal benefit to the elderly patient.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2001

End Date: 01-01-2003

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $196,018.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Medical biochemistry - inorganic elements and compounds

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

adult cancer | age | breast cancer | chemotherapy toxicity | clinical studies | cytochrome P450 | dose optimisation | drug metabolism and disposition | gerentology | non-small cell lung cancer

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