Abstract
More than half of all new cancers in the United States occur in patients 65 years of age or older.1 The incidence of cancer in this age group is 11 times that in the population under 65 (2261 per 100,000 population, as compared with 207 per 100,000 population), and more than half of all deaths due to cancer occur in patients 65 or older. This age group accounts for two thirds to three fourths of colorectal cancers and at least three fourths of deaths from colorectal cancer. The increasing longevity of our population makes these statistics especially sobering; by 2030 . . .