Cancer Increasing as Baby Boomers Age: New Focus on Caregiving

As baby boomers age, the incidence of cancer is increasing. In fact, it's estimated to increase by 67 percent between 2010 and 2030. This, in turn, has brought attention to the nation's response for cancer care. As cancer is diagnosed at a higher rate, researchers are now looking at the toll that this particular phenomenon is taking on our nation.

About 10,000 baby boomers reach the age of 65 every day. As these baby boomers age, though, cancer is being found more often. This, in turn, accounts for more survivors, but also results in more deaths than in younger patients.

"The increase in the number of older adults, the association of cancer with aging, the workforce shortage and the financial stressors across the health care system and family networks all contribute to a crisis in cancer care that is most pronounced in the older population," wrote three members of the Institute of Medication Committee on Improving the Quality of Cancer Care in a news release.

Caregiving often falls to a family member who is also aging. Yet as such a large percentage of the population succumbs to both age and cancer, it's crucial to address the physical, psychological, financial and emotional tolls on caregivers by developing more effective ways to prepare and support them. In this case, the researchers pointed out some specific factors that should be addressed as baby boomers continue to age.

The first of these potential improvements is passing new laws that extends the time period for clinical trials. This would be similar to the laws passed for pediatric patients. How would this affect patients? It'd include more older adults, which could allow researchers to better assess how drugs will impact older patients.

The second of the improvements is allowing the patients to decide exactly what works. In fact, the authors recommend "publicly reported, robust measures of patient reported outcomes meaningful for this population" and to establish a national workforce commission "to lan for the challenges of an aging population and the complexity of care required by older adults with cancer, including a workforce that values multidisciplinary teams and geriatrics principles."

These suggestions could help those with cancer as the population ages. Needless to say, it's important to plan for the future. By instituting some of these policies sooner, researchers could essentially curtail a problem before it begins.

The findings are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.