Tools for decision-making in older cancer patients. Role of the comprehensive geriatric assessment.

ABSTRACT

Approximately 60% of cancer incidence and 70% of cancer mortality occurs in individuals older than 65 years. The optimal approach to cancer therapy in older adults is often unclear. Historically, advanced age has been an exclusion criterion in clinical cancer trials, and older adults have been consistently underrepresented. As a result, there is a lack of information about treatment efficacy and tolerability in this population. Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is one of the most useful tools for the oncologist to make decisions related to older patients diagnosed with cancer. This tool has proved to be very useful to detect many deficits, tolerance to chemotherapy and survival in such patients. In this review, we analyze the role of CGA in decision making in geriatric oncology.