老年癌症病人的獨特挑戰－－治療與照護

The Unique Challenges of Treating and Caring for Older Adult Patients With Cancer

隨年齡增長，組織退化、細胞競爭和清除機制效率下降，攜帶適應性突變細胞更易生存並累積，可能引發癌細胞發展，這使年齡成為癌症的主要風險因素（Laconi et al., 2020）。據預測，2050年全球60歲以上人口將增至21億， 80歲以上將達4.26億（World Health Organization, 2024）。

In older age, tissue degeneration, decreased cellular competition, and the declining efficiency of clearance mechanisms lead to higher rates of survival and accumulation for cells with adaptive mutations, which increase the risk of cancer cell development (Laconi et al., 2020). Thus, age is a significant risk factor for cancer. It is projected that by 2050, the global population aged 60 and above will rise to 2.1 billion, with those aged 80 and above expected to reach 426 million (World Health Or¬ganization, 2024).