ArticleJournal of the American Geriatrics Society2016
Skin Cancer in U.S. Elderly Adults: Does Life Expectancy Play a Role in Treatment Decisions?
Article in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Machine-learning-based Phenomapping of Patients with Keratinocyte Carcinoma: Data-driven Subgrouping by Disease Burden, Comorbidities and Socioeconomic Status.Acta dermato-venereologica · 2026Article
- Vision Transformers for Low-Quality Histopathological Images: A Case Study on Squamous Cell Carcinoma Margin Classification.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- Economic burden of skin cancer treatment in the USA: an analysis of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Data, 2012-2018.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2023Article
- Surgical Treatment of Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer in Older Adult Veterans.Federal practitioner : for the health care professionals of the VA, DoD, and PHS · 2022Article
- Outpatient Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer Excision and Reconstruction: A Clinical, Economical, and Patient Perception Analysis.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2022Article
- Barriers and facilitators to mobile health and active surveillance use among older adults with skin disease.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2021Article
- A Vismodegib Experience in Elderly Patients with Basal Cell Carcinoma: Case Reports and Review of the Literature.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Review
- High-dose-rate brachytherapy using Leipzig applicators for non-melanoma localized skin cancer.Journal of contemporary brachytherapy · 2020Article
- Treatment of keratinocyte carcinoma in elderly patients - a review of the current literature.Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV · 2020Review
- Functional status and survival in patients ≥85 years of age who have keratinocyte carcinoma: A retrospective cohort study.Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology · 2020Article
- Effect of Patient Characteristics on Treatment Decisions Regarding Keratinocyte Carcinoma in Elderly Patients: A Review of the Current Literature.Acta dermato-venereologica · 2020Review
- Patient-reported health not associated with keratinocyte carcinoma treatment choice in a Medicare cohort of older adults.The British journal of dermatology · 2020Article
- A multiyear cross-sectional study of U.S. national prescribing patterns of first-generation sedating antihistamines in older adults with skin disease.The British journal of dermatology · 2020Observational
- Non-Melanoma Skin Cancers in the Older Patient.Current oncology reports · 2019Review
- Natural history of lesions suspicious for basal cell carcinoma in older adults in Ikaria, Greece.The British journal of dermatology · 2018Observational
- Geriatric Dermatology-A Framework for Caring for Older Patients With Skin Disease.JAMA dermatology · 2018Article
- Comorbidity scores associated with limited life expectancy in the very elderly with nonmelanoma skin cancer.Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology · 2018Article
- Skin Cancer in U.S. Elderly Adults: Does Life Expectancy Play a Role in Treatment Decisions?Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2016Article
- Mohs Defect Repair with Dehydrated Human Amnion/Chorion Membrane.Facial plastic surgery & aesthetic medicineObservational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo examine whether life expectancy influences treatment pattern of nonmelanoma skin cancer, or keratinocyte carcinoma (KC), the most common malignancy and the fifth most costly cancer to Medicare.
designNationally representative cross-sectional study.
settingNationally representative Health and Retirement Study linked to Medicare claims.
participantsTreatments (N = 9,653) from individuals aged 65 and older treated for basal or squamous cell carcinoma between 1992 and 2012 (N = 2,702) were included. MEASUREMENTS: Limited life expectancy defined according to aged 85 and older, medical comorbidities, Charlson Comorbidity Index score of 3 or greater, difficulty in at least one activity of daily living (ADL), and a Lee index of 13 or greater. Treatment type (Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) (most intensive, highest cost), excision, or electrodesiccation and curettage (ED&C) (least intensive, lowest cost)), according to procedure code.
resultsMost KCs (61%) were treated surgically. Rates of MMS (19%), excision (42%), and ED&C (39%) were no different in participants with limited life expectancy and those with normal life expectancy. For example, 19% of participants with difficulty or dependence in ADLs, 20% of those with a Charlson comorbidity score greater than 3, and 15% of those in their last year of life underwent MMS; participants who died within 1 year of diagnosis were treated in the same way as those who lived longer.
conclusionA one-size-fits-all approach in which advanced age, health status, functional status, and prognosis are not associated with intensiveness of treatment appears to guide treatment for KC, a generally nonfatal condition. Although intensive treatment of skin cancer when it causes symptoms may be indicated regardless of life expectancy, persons with limited life expectancy should be given choices to ensure that the treatment matches their goals and preferences.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.