Elderly UK patients with rare blood cancer receive substandard care

Elderly people in the UK with Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS), a rare form of blood cancer, are not being managed according to official treatment guidelines resulting in substandard care, according to a new Call to Action launched this week by the MDS UK Patient Support Group and Leukaemia CARE with support from US biotech major Celgene (Nasdaq: CELG).

The Call to Action highlights the potential consequences of under treating and diagnosis of patients, including avoidable deaths, and sets out the steps that need to be taken to improve the care that MDS patients currently receive. Sophie Wintrich, chief executive, MDS UK Patient Support Group, said: “Care of the elderly is less than ideal and this is particularly the case for elderly cancer patients with under treatment identified as one of a number of factors contributing to around 14,000 avoidable deaths in the UK each year. While there are valid reasons why health care professionals may be reluctant to administer cancer therapies, all too often patients who could benefit from treatment are not being offered it.”

She added: “This is because judgements about a person’s ability to cope with a treatment or their personal preferences are being based on their chronological age rather than their specific needs and situation. These inequalities need to be dealt with now by all those working in the field of MDS as together we could improve the lives of patients and their families by implementing the recommendations outlined in this Call to Action and the recently published British Committee for Standards in Haematology (BCSH) MDS guidelines.”