In this podcast, Geriatric Medicine Specialist, Beatriz Korc-Grodzicki, MD, PhD, talks about the special considerations that affect older adults who need surgery for cancer, including other health conditions and the ability to recover.  

Geriatric specialists are doctors who specialize in treating older adults. This specialty may not be available at your cancer center, so it’s important to ask the doctor about the unique considerations that may affect cancer care for older adults.

According to Dr. Korc-Grodzicki, “the assessment for older adults needs to be a little bit more complex and more comprehensive and go a little bit beyond the traditional preoperative evaluation in a way that will reveal information that can be missed with the usual history and physical exam.”

She also provides recommendations for “homework” patients can do beforehand to get ready for surgery, often called prehabilitation. Prehabilitation helps patients physically and mentally prepare for and recover from cancer treatment. Learn more about prehabilitation.

• Why are focused geriatric services helpful for older patients? [1:14]

• What concerns should be taken into account for older patients who need surgery? [3:55]

• What is considered a good result of surgery for older adults? [4:30]

• What can patients do before surgery to improve their recovery? [4:54]

This is a prerecorded audio podcast, and it can be listened to online or downloaded to your computer. A transcript of this podcast is also available. For more information, visit the Cancer.Net podcast page.