The purpose of this study is to determine whether information regarding GA and GA-driven interventions improves outcomes in older cancer patients receiving first-line or second-line chemotherapy by comparing rates of chemotherapy toxicity, hospitalizations, dose delays and early termination of treatment in patients with and without GA-driven interventions. The investigators will identify information that will be useful based on questionnaire responses and blood tests. These results will be used to better understand which recommendations and interventions will benefit older cancer patients. It is our hope that these tools, which are well-established at identifying areas of risk, will provide meaningful opportunities for intervention to promote your safety during cancer management. The investigators will be able to use this information to teach others on how to best care for adults aged 70 and older with cancer.
Although cancer is very common in older patients, the optimal treatment for cancer for this subset of patients is not well established. As a result of lack of knowledge on the safety and efficacy of chemotherapy in older adults, a significant proportion of older patients receiving chemotherapy have toxicity. There is also little information regarding how to best make decisions for and implement interventions to improve outcomes of older patients with cancer who are to receive treatment. Additionally, there is marked heterogeneity in the geriatric population, and patients of similar chronologic age may have wide disparity in their overall health status. Geriatricians utilize a tool called the Geriatric Assessment (GA) to gauge an older patient's overall health status and identify potential areas of deficits. The GA is a comprehensive tool, incorporating the assessment of physical function, co-morbid conditions, social support, nutritional, psychological, and cognitive status and medication review. A small number of studies in the oncology literature have demonstrated the value of GA in guiding cancer-directed treatment plans for older patients. GA can identify potential areas of deficits in an older patient's overall health status that have been shown to predict chemotherapy toxicity and guide interventions to improve outcomes for older patients. Studies of interventions in community-dwelling older adults have demonstrated efficacy at improving deficits identified on GA. However, in older patients with cancer, there is currently limited data regarding how GA can affect decision-making for treatment and impact overall clinical care. In a two-arm, randomized pilot study, we will evaluate the effect of GA and GA-driven interventions on the outcomes of older cancer patients receiving first-line or second-line chemotherapy.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
80
For patients assigned to the treatment arm, individuals will be offered the option of completing the GA during a visit with their primary oncologist, or attending an additional visit at the multidisciplinary geriatric oncology clinic. The intervention consists of providing results of geriatric assessment in a summary to oncologists.
Highland Hospital
Rochester, New York, United States
Pluta Cancer Center
Rochester, New York, United States
University of Rochester Wilmot Cancer Center
Rochester, New York, United States
Chemotherapy Toxicity
The primary outcome measure for this study is to determine if GA-driven interventions improve outcomes in older cancer patients receiving first-line or second-line chemotherapy by comparing rates of chemotherapy toxicity, hospitalizations, dose delays and early termination of treatment. The primary analysis will be a comparison of the proportion of patients who developed grade \>3 toxicity over 3 months time using the likelihood ratio test.
Time frame: Over 3 months
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