Younger and older patients with metastatic colorectal cancer had similar survival outcomes despite differences in fitness levels and treatment intensity, according to study results published in Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The lack of a significant survival benefit in the CALGB/SWOG 80405 trial for those with young-onset disease — who typically have more favorable characteristics such as left-sided tumors and receive higher doses of chemotherapy — may be due to diagnosis at more advanced stages, differences in underlying tumor biology or other, unidentified factors increasing disease aggression, researchers wrote.