Validation of a Prediction Tool for Chemotherapy Toxicity in Older Adults With Cancer

Abstract

This study externally validated a chemotherapy toxicity predictive model for older adults with cancer. This predictive model should be considered when discussing the risks and benefits of chemotherapy with older adults.

Novel mHealth App to Deliver Geriatric Assessment-Driven Interventions for Older Adults With Cancer: Pilot Feasibility and Usability Study (Preprint)

“…Compared to their younger counterparts, however, older adults have a higher prevalence of comorbidity, disability, and geriatric syndromes, putting them at increased risk of treatment-related toxicities and adverse outcomes [1][2][3][4]. A geriatric assessment (GA) is a compilation of reliable and validated tools to assess important domains, including comorbidity, physical function, cognition psychological health, nutrition, medication review, and social support; each of these domains that are predictors of morbidity and mortality [5].…”

Reprint of: Aging: Treating the Older Patient

“…A GA has been the standard tool within geriatric oncology to better characterize health in older patients. The GA in Table 1 was adopted from the Cancer and Aging Research Group and supplemented by additional medical history that may be relevant to transplant [67,68]. The extensive resources committed for transplant and appreciable risks may justify this low-risk low-cost evaluation.…”

“…Whether patient-reported function, performance-based function, or both will be optimal is unknown. Other studies in geriatrics and geriatric oncology support the IADL to stratify for outcome using this convenient survey tool [67,83].…”

“…Multidimensional risk scores using comorbidity, function, and age, if not other markers as used in geriatric oncology and noncancer older populations [67,85], will likely emerge. For example, we found a combination of high comorbidity (ie, HCT-CI scores of 3 or more) and functional impairment by IADL produced a simple 3-level scoring system with appreciable discrimination: 2-year survival rates exceeded 60% for no risk factors compared with 29% and 0% for those with 1 or 2 risk factors in patients 60 years and older, respectively.…”

Effect of Adjuvant Chemotherapy on Elderly Colorectal Cancer Patients: Lack of Evidence

“…Many clinical trials have age as exclusion criteria, which renders patients older than 70 years underrepresented in studies [9] . A more pragmatic approach to classifying could be by using tools for predicting chemotherapy toxicity in elderly patients [19] and functional status instead of the patient's chronological age. This can be assessed by functional performance scores such as comprehensive geriatric assessment [20] , the Karnofsky index, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, or the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance score [16] .…”