Kidney cancer treatment for seniors questioned

In a stunning example of when treatment might be worse than the disease, a large review of Medicare records finds that older people with small kidney tumors were much less likely to die over the next five years if doctors monitored them instead of operating right away.

Even though nearly all of these tumors turned out to be cancer, they rarely proved fatal. And surgery roughly doubled patients' risk of developing heart problems or dying of other causes, doctors found.

After five years, 24 percent of those who had surgery had died, compared to only 13 percent of those who chose monitoring. Just 3 percent of people in each group died of kidney cancer.

The observational study only involved people 66 and older, but half of all kidney cancers occur in this age group.

Younger people with longer life expectancies should still be offered surgery, doctors stressed.

The research was discussed Tuesday in a telephone news conference sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and two other cancer groups.

In the United States, about 65,000 new cases of kidney cancer and 13,700 deaths from the disease are expected this year.

Source: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130213/LIFESTYLE03/302130327/1040/rss34

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