Anticipating the “Silver Tsunami”: Prevalence Trajectories and Co-Morbidity Burden among Older Cancer Survivors in the United States

Cancer survivors are a growing population, due in large part to the aging of the baby boomer generation and the related "silver tsunami" facing the U.S. health care system. Understanding the impact of a graying nation on cancer prevalence and comorbidity burden is critical in informing efforts to design and implement quality cancer care for this population.

Incidence and survival data from 1975 to 2011 were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program to estimate current cancer prevalence. SEER-Medicare claims data were used to estimate comorbidity burden. Prevalence projections were made using U.S. Census Bureau data and the Prevalence Incidence Approach Model, assuming constant future incidence and survival trends but dynamic projections of the U.S.