Older individuals who are suffering from colon cancer may want to look into other health resources after they receive surgery, as a new study suggests that elderly patients are rarely treated with chemotherapy after their operations.

According to findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, older patients are less likely to receive chemotherapy treatment after surgery, despite it being less toxic for their bodies than with younger patients.

Because of their age and their probability of developing other illnesses, patients over the age of 80 are rarely given chemotherapy after having surgery for stage III colon cancer.

However, researchers determined that of the elderly patients who received chemotherapy treatments, approximately 24 percent had an adverse event up to 31 days after treatment. The researchers are hopeful that this study would inspire more physicians to use chemotherapy as a treatment.

“Using decision support tools built on published trials and population-based analyses such as these can help clinicians predict effectiveness of chemotherapy, even for patients with comorbid conditions and advanced age,” the authors wrote.