Relevance of a systematic geriatric screening and assessment in older patients with cancer: results of a prospective multicentric study.

Background: To evaluate the large-scale feasibility and usefulness of geriatric screening and assessment in clinical oncology practice by assessing the impact on the detection of unknown geriatric problems, geriatric interventions and treatment decisions.

Methods: Eligible patients who had a malignant tumour were ≥70 years old and treatment decision had to be made. Patients were screened using G8; if abnormal (score ≤14/17) followed by Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA). The assessment results were communicated to the treating physician using a predefined questionnaire to assess the topics mentioned above.

Results: One thousand nine hundred and sixty-seven patients were included in 10 hospitals. Of these patients, 70.7% had an abnormal G8 score warranting a CGA. Physicians were aware of the assessment results at the time of treatment decision in two-thirds of the patients (n = 1115; 61.3%). The assessment detected unknown geriatric problems in 51.2% of patients. When the physician was aware of the assessment results at the time of decision making, geriatric interventions were planned in 286 patients (25.7%) and the treatment decision was influenced in 282 patients (25.3%).

Conclusions: Geriatric screening and assessment in older patients with cancer is feasible at large scale and has a significant impact on the detection of unknown geriatric problems, leading to geriatric interventions and adapted treatment.