Cancer incidence in old age

The incidence of all cancer increases with age through most of the human li fe span, but its real incidence at very old ages has not been well elucidat ed to date. Clarification of the real incidence of cancer in old age, espec ially among centenarians, may well provide pivotal information to understan d the characteristics of humankind. In this study, autopsy records of the A nnual of the Pathological Autopsy Cases in Japan, 1991-1996, vols. 34-39 (J apanese Society of Pathology, Tokyo) were used. Cases over 90 years old wer e studied individually for accurate analysis. The incidence of cancer peake d in the 6th decade and that of multiple cases in the 8th decade. In groups over 90 years of age, the incidence at 5-year intervals did not show any s ignificant decrement. Moreover, the metastatic rate and rate of death due t o cancer among centenarians was about three-fourths and two-thirds, respect ively, of that of cases aged 90-94 years. The decrease in the metastatic ra tio and less mortality due to cancer occurring at the oldest ages are consi dered due to the nature of cancer itself. The fact that the incidence of ca ncer does not increase would suggest that certain people among those of adv anced age have a special resistance to it. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Irelan d Ltd. All rights reserved.