New research article published in academic journal.

A team of researchers led by recent Cabrini colorectal fellow Raymond Yap, which also includes Karen Oliva (Database Manager), Dr Simon Wilkins (Research Fellow at the Cabrini Institute), and Cabrini colorectal surgeon Paul McMurrick, have recently published an article in the medical journal Diseases of the Colon and Rectum May edition (Vol 59 Issue 6 501-507). 

The new journal article is entitled "Colorectal Cancer Surgery in the Very Elderly: Nonagenarians", and it retrospectively analysed the safety of colorectal surgery for a steadily rising population of patients over 90 years of age within the Cabrini Monash University Department of Surgery neoplasia database.

According to research leader Raymond Yap, “There has been an increase in the number of patients being treated at the extremes of age because of our aging population. And longer lifespans are a risk factor for the development of colorectal cancer.”

"Previously patients over 90 years of age might have been considered too frail for abdominal surgery,” said Mr Yap.

“But this study contributes to the view that these patients should be considered for curative treatment. And age should not be the sole factor that impedes surgery in this population.”

Click to read the abstract.