Should elderly patients be told they have cancer? Questionnaire survey of older people

There is evidence that doctors fail to inform patients when they diagnose cancer [1][2][3] and that this is more likely in older people. Yet Meredith et al showed that 96% of 250 patients with malignancy wanted to know if their illness was cancer. 4 Although it is now appreciated that patients want more information about their illness, few studies have specifically targeted elderly people to assess their opinions about cancer and how much they would wish to know about their diagnosis.