(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – A new clinic is open that is changing the way cancer patients are evaluated for treatment, by placing less emphasis on their age and more on their fitness level. “For too long, there have been age limits to the types of therapies we offered to patients,” said Dr. Ashley Rosko, who helped create the clinic at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James). “But this clinic is dedicated to providing the most effective treatment to every patient by looking at their biological age instead of just their physical age.”
In the past, Rosko says most hospitals assumed older patients would likely be too frail to tolerate treatments like powerful chemotherapies or stem cell transplants, so they set age limits on who could get them. “But we know there are people in their 70’s and even their 80’s who tolerate those treatments very well. So, we need to make sure they get them,” Rosko said.
In one visit to the clinic, patients are seen by up to six specialists who evaluate everything from physical and mental health to a patient’s social support structure and even their nutrition. “We want a complete picture of these patients in all aspects of their health, so we can offer the best treatment plan possible,” said Rosko.
