1. ¹The Department of Medical Oncology and Therapeutics Research, City of Hope, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
2. ²Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Commack, NY 11725, USA

Correspondence: Dr A Hurria, City of Hope, 1500 E. Duarte Road, Duarte, CA 91010, USA. E-mail: ahurria@coh.org; Dr SM Lichtman, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 650 Commack Road, Commack, NY 11725, USA. E-mail: lichtmas@mskcc.org

Received 6 July 2007; Revised 3 December 2007; Accepted 20 December 2007; Published online 5 February 2008.

Abstract

This abbreviated review outlines the physiologic changes associated with aging, and examines how these changes may affect the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of anticancer therapies. We also provide an overview of studies that have been conducted evaluating the pharmacology of anticancer therapies in older adults, and issue a call for further research.