Special problems of cancer care for the elderly.

This article focuses on the more common cancers; it does not attempt to cover the whole gamut of cancer in the elderly. Lung, pancreas, rectal, and stomach cancers are picked up sooner in the elderly than in the younger population, but bladder, breast, cervical, ovarian, thyroid, and uterine cancer, and malignant melanoma are diagnosed at a more advanced stage in the elderly, possibly because of inadequate routine screening of the elderly on the part of the physician.