Effect of age on the effectiveness of the first-line standard of care treatment in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer: systematic review of observational studies
Purpose Most metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients are elderly. This systematic review identifies and describes observational studies evaluating the influence of age on first-line treatment effectiveness in real-world practice. Methods Medline and EMBASE were searched up to May 2016. The included studies were those that investigated first-line treatment of mCRC and reported age groups and overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) or overall response rate (ORR) were included. Studies published before 2008 were excluded. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Data were evaluated by age group (