Melisa Wong Points Out Potential Age Bias in Active Treatment of Lung Cancer

Melisa Wong, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, lays out the findings of a study she did looking at the age of patients with recurrent lung cancer and the likelihood they were to receive active treatment.

The study found that for every 10-year increase in age, a patient was 25% less likely to receive active care—a patient aged 70 years was 25% more likely than one aged 80 to receive active treatment for their cancer. She suggests that age bias, among other reasons, could be responsible for this gap.