Geriatric Oncology

This book is intended as a comprehensive resource for clinicians and researchers seeking in-depth information on geriatric oncology. The coverage encompasses epidemiology, the biology and (patho)physiology of aging and cancer, geriatric assessment and management, hematologic malignancies, solid tumors, issues in patient care, and research methods.   Since cancer is a disease of aging and people are living longer, most cancer patients are now aged 70 and older. Yet the more we age, the more diverse we become in terms of our health, biologic fitness, and cancer behavior. Typically, however, general oncology clinical trials address only a selected healthier and younger population of patients. Geriatric oncology is the area of oncology that addresses these issues but while a wealth of knowledge has been accumulated, information is often difficult to retrieve or insufficiently detailed. The SpringerReference program, in which this book is published, offers an ideal format for overcoming these limitations since it combines thorough coverage with access to living editions constantly updated chapter by chapter via a dynamic peer-review process, ensuring that information remains current and pertinent.

Dr. Martine Extermann is Professor of Oncology and Medicine at the University of South Florida. She is the Program Leader of the Senior Adult Oncology Program at the Moffitt Cancer Center. She earned her medical diploma and her medical Ph.D. at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. She has a Swiss Board Certification in Internal Medicine, specialty Oncology-Hematology. She also holds ABIM certifications in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology. She has worked at Moffitt since 1994 and has been a Faculty Member since 1997. Her research focuses on cancer in the elderly. Her main areas of investigation are comorbidity, comprehensive assessment, and prediction/prevention of treatment toxicity in older cancer patients.She is Past President of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG), of which she is also a founding board member. She served or is serving on several ASCO committees and on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Dr. Extermann was presented at ASCO 2009 with the B.J. Kennedy Award for Scientific Excellence in Geriatric Oncology. In October 2014, the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) presented Dr. Extermann with the Paul Calabresi Award. On October 10, 2015, Dr. Extermann was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Geriatric Oncology by the German Society of Geriatrics and German Society of Hematology/Oncology in Basel, Switzerland.