received treatment decreased with the increasing number of pre-existing medical conditions, but the likelihood of receiving adjuvant therapy decreased with age even after taking other medical conditions into account. For patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, evidence-based guidelines recommend that chemotherapy may be beneficial for patients who are well enough to withstand the treatment. One analysis found that, among patients age 65 and older diagnosed with this type of lung cancer between 1991 and 1993, only 22 percent received chemotherapy. A study of patients diagnosed in 1996 found similarly low levels of treatment among patients age 65 and older. However, more recent studies have found increasing trends in the late 1990s in the use of chemotherapy among late-stage non-small cell lung cancer patients.

Unlike breast and lung cancers, treatment for prostate cancer is more controversial. The most notable trend in prostate cancer treatment from 1986 to 1999 was the decreasing proportion of cases that received watchful waiting, surgical or chemical castration, or hormonal deprivation therapy as primary treatment. More aggressive treatments, including newer radiation techniques, were found to be on the rise. However, black men were found to receive substantially less aggressive treatment than white men.

The report concludes that substantial geographical variations in treatment patterns exist, but that much of contemporary cancer treatment is consistent with evidence-based NIH Consensus Development Statements (http://consensus.nih.gov/ ), which are considered a "gold standard" for care recommendations.

"The value of cancer registries in population research is immeasurable. Through linkage with other data systems, the information can give us insight into getting effective treatments to the general population that will have an impact on survival and mortality," said NAACCR Director Holly L. Howe, Ph.D.

The
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Contact: NCI Press Office
ncipressofficers@mail.nih.gov
301-496-6641
NIH/National Cancer Institute
4-Oct-2005

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