What age is the right age for saying NO to cancer treatment?

I asked this question to my doctor last week attending to my grandmother, who has recently been diagnosed with cancer. She is 78 years old, but otherwise fit as a fiddle as they say. Cancer treatment though may help her delay her death, but may incapacitate her from regular daily activities. So i had to make a tough choice of whether to "treat" or "not treat". I finally made a choice but not without having any awareness to cancer care that i had.

To make a choice of No cancer treatment in old age is a growing social and moral problem in most families residing in India. Advances in cancer care and diagnostics have added more burden on the patient and the care giver to make choices for or against a given treatment plan in an old patient/ given the fact that most cancers are incurable, it is unlikely that all patient will benefit from an aggressive therapeutic approach. the way to address this issue is by empowering both the patients and the caregivers to make well informed decision.

Despite advances in science as well as culture, the regressive mentality of the Indian social system breeds the stigma attached with cancer. This clouds the decisions made thereof by both the patients and the care giver towards the approach for cancer care. The pervasiveness of stigma can change the attitude of the care givers towards the affected individuals as well. So, it is important that this issue must be tackled first so, people can make informed choices towards cancer care in patients of old age.

To compound this moral problem changing demographics with accessibility to health care have led to increased longevity.This phenomena clearly puts more patients at increased risk of cancer. People of old age are also primarily economically dependent on their care givers. Thus access to health care in such situations depend on care givers attitude. The increased health care costs add additional burden on the care giver in making good choices and provide appropriate and adequate treatment to cancer patients in their old age.


Frankly speaking there is no such age as right age to say No to cancer treatment. To just provide a solution to this growing moral concern, patients and care giver must be empowered with right health education about cancer, so as to make an well informed choice to treat or not to treat at any given age. More importantly, the education allows people to allow themselves to be aware of the bias brought in by the stigma, and health care costs that are attached with cancer. As one moves away from these obstacles, care givers and patients themselves would then make informed choices to their treatment plan which offers the best quality of life to the given individual at any age.

Thus health care and cancer care education tackles moral and ethical issues associated with cancer care in old age, while safeguarding the quality of life of each and every patient.