Whether to put elderly women through the challenge of clearance surgery for ovarian cancer is a difficult choice. There has previously been a reluctance to treat older women with the same extensive surgical resection which is the standard of care for younger fitter women.
This prospective review looked at about 100 previously self-reliant women with cancer, who were 65 years old or older and measured their postoperative functional recovery, with correlation to their independence before diagnosis.
Results from the survey showed that 70% of the women were able to function normally with full independence at 12 months post-surgery. Some of the women had impairment of function at six months with subsequent recovery. Those women who had cognitive impairment prior to surgery were unchanged at the 12-month review.
None of the parameters used in assessment which included measurements of cognition, function, and frailty proved useful in determining the outcome. The authors suggest that age and incapacity should not be criteria for incomplete treatment.
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