Diagnostic Performance of the 4-Item Geriatric Depression Scale for Depression Screening in Older Patients with Cancer: The ELCAPA Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: In older patients with cancer, depression is difficult to assess because of its heterogeneous clinical expression. The 4-item version of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-4) is quick and easy to administer but has not been validated in this population. The present study was designed to test the diagnostic performance of the GDS-4 in a French cohort of older patients with cancer before treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our cross-sectional analysis of data from the Elderly Cancer Patient cohort covered all patients with cancer aged ≥70 years and referred for geriatric assessment at two centers in France between 2007 and 2018. The GDS-4's psychometric properties were evaluated against three different measures of depression: the geriatrician's clinical diagnosis (based on a semistructured interview), the 4th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and a cluster analysis. The scale's sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) were calculated. RESULTS: In a sample of 2,293 patients (median age, 81 years; women, 46%), the GDS-4's sensitivity and specificity for detecting physician-diagnosed depression were, respectively, 90% and 89%. The positive and negative likelihood ratios were 8.2 and 0.11, and the AUROC was 92%. When considering the subset of patients with data on all measures of depression, the sensitivity and specificity values were, respectively, ≥90% and ≥72%, the positive and negative likelihood ratios were, respectively, ≥3.4 and ≤ 0.11, and the AUROC was ≥91%. CONCLUSION: The GDS-4 appears to be a clinically relevant, easy-to-use tool for routine depression screening in older patients with cancer. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Considering the overlap between symptoms of cancer and symptoms of depression, depression is particularly difficult to assess in older geriatric oncology and is associated with poor outcomes; there is a need for a routine psychological screening. Self-report instruments like the 4-item version of the Geriatric Depression Scale appears to be a clinically relevant, easy-to-use tool for routine depression screening in older patients with cancer. Asking four questions might enable physicians to screen older patients with cancer for depression and then guide them toward further clinical evaluation and appropriate care if required.

Energy expenditure profiles and the risk of early limiting toxicity in older patients with cancer: The ELCAPA-25 prospective cohort survey.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Predicting the risk of early limiting toxicity (ELT) is major challenge for the clinician seeking an effective, safe treatment for older patients with cancer. The Cancer and Aging Research Group (CARG) and CRASH (Chemotherapy Risk Assessment Scale for High-Age Patients) toxicity scores were designed to predict chemotherapy-related toxicity. Elevated resting energy expenditure (REE) may predispose to cachexia and increase ELT and mortality in older patients with cancer. The primary objective was to assess the association between elevated REE and ELT in older patients with cancer. The secondary objectives were to assess the discriminant ability of a predictive model including REE (relative to the CARG and CRASH scores) and the prognostic value of elevated REE. METHODS: We assessed patients aged 70 or over included in the prospective ELCAPA cohort between 2014 and 2018. The inclusion criteria were a solid tumour, a measurement of REE at baseline (mREE, by indirect calorimetry), and a geriatric assessment prior to cancer treatment in a teaching hospital (Paris, France). The mREE was compared with the predicted REE (pREE), as defined by the Harris-Benedict equation. Depending on the mREE/pREE ratio, study participants were classified as hypermetabolic, hypometabolic or normometabolic. The primary endpoint was 3-month ELT, defined as any unplanned hospitalization or any event leading to dose reduction, a treatment delay of more than 7 days, or treatment discontinuation within 3 months of initiation. The secondary endpoint was the 3-month mortality rate. RESULTS: A total of 179 patients were included. The median age was 80 [interquartile range: 76-84] years, 37% of the patients were female, 81.8% had metastatic disease, 67.6% received chemotherapy, 20.7% received hormone therapy, and 11.7% received targeted therapies. According to the mREE/pREE ratio, 85 patients (47%) were hypermetabolic, 63 (35%) were normometabolic, and 31 (18%) were hypometabolic. Sixty patients (33.5%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 26.7-40.9) experienced ELT. The discriminant ability (as assessed by the C-index) of a multivariate model including REE and adjustment factors was 0.82 [95%CI: 0.73-0.91]. In comparison, the discriminant ability of the CARG and CRASH models was 0.57 [0.45-0.68] and 0.51 [0.40-0.62], respectively. In our model, hypermetabolism was an independent risk factor for ELT (adjusted odds ratio = 2.44; 95%CI: 1.02-5.80). Other risk factors were the cancer type and stage, the treatment protocol, a clinical diagnosis of depression, the presence of grade 3 or 4 comorbidities, and the serum lactate dehydrogenase level. CONCLUSION: Hypermetabolism status is an independent predictor of ELT in older patients with cancer, relative to normometabolic status. Baseline REE measurement might improve the ELT risk assessment and decision-making process.

Release of infectious virus and cytokines in nasopharyngeal swabs from individuals infected with non-alpha or alpha SARS-CoV-2 variants: an observational retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: The dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 alpha variant shedding and immune responses at the nasal mucosa remain poorly characterised. METHODS: We measured infectious viral release, antibodies and cytokines in 426 PCR+ nasopharyngeal swabs from individuals harboring non-alpha or alpha variants. FINDINGS: With both lineages, viral titers were variable, ranging from 0 to >106 infectious units. Rapid antigenic diagnostic tests were positive in 94% of samples with infectious virus. 68 % of individuals carried infectious virus within two days after onset of symptoms. This proportion decreased overtime. Viable virus was detected up to 14 days. Samples containing anti-spike IgG or IgA did not generally harbor infectious virus. Ct values were slightly but not significantly lower with alpha. This variant was characterized by a fast decrease of infectivity overtime and a marked release of 13 cytokines (including IFN-b, IP-10 and IL-10). INTERPRETATION: The alpha variant displays modified viral decay and cytokine profiles at the nasopharyngeal mucosae during symptomatic infection. FUNDING: This retrospective study has been funded by Institut Pasteur, ANRS, Vaccine Research Institute, Labex IBEID, ANR/FRM and IDISCOVR, Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale.

Bleeding risk with rivaroxaban compared with vitamin K antagonists in patients aged 80 years or older with atrial fibrillation.

OBJECTIVE: Direct oral anticoagulants have been evaluated in the general population, but proper evidence for their safe use in the geriatric population is still missing. We compared the bleeding risk of a direct oral anticoagulant (rivaroxaban) and vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) among French geriatric patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) aged ≥80 years. METHODS: We performed a sequential observational prospective cohort study, using data from 33 geriatric centres. The sample comprised 908 patients newly initiated on VKAs between September 2011 and September 2014 and 995 patients newly initiated on rivaroxaban between September 2014 and September 2017. Patients were followed up for up to 12 months. One-year risks of major, intracerebral, gastrointestinal bleedings, ischaemic stroke and all-cause mortality were compared between rivaroxaban-treated and VKA-treated patients with propensity score matching and Cox models. RESULTS: Major bleeding risk was significantly lower in rivaroxaban-treated patients (7.4/100 patient-years) compared with VKA-treated patients (14.6/100 patient-years) after multivariate adjustment (HR 0.66; 95% CI 0.43 to 0.99) and in the propensity score-matched sample (HR 0.53; 95% CI 0.33 to 0.85). Intracerebral bleeding occurred less frequently in rivaroxaban-treated patients (1.3/100 patient-years) than in VKA-treated patients (4.0/100 patient-years), adjusted HR 0.59 (95% CI 0.24 to 1.44) and in the propensity score-matched sample HR 0.26 (95% CI 0.09 to 0.80). Major lower bleeding risk was largely driven by lower risk of intracerebral bleeding. CONCLUSIONS: Our study findings indicate that bleeding risk, largely driven by lower risk of intracerebral bleeding, is lower with rivaroxaban than with VKA in stroke prevention in patients ≥80 years old with non-valvular AF.

Potential drug-drug interactions with abiraterone in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients: a prevalence study in France.

PURPOSE: Abiraterone acetate combined with prednisone improves survival in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients. This oral anticancer agent may result in drug-drug interactions (DDI). We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of DDI with abiraterone and the possible determinants for the occurrence of these DDI. METHODS: We performed a single centre retrospective review from electronic medical records of mCRPC patients treated with abiraterone from 2011 to 2015. Potential DDI with abiraterone were identified using Micromedex and were categorized by a 4-point scale severity. RESULTS: Seventy-two out of ninety-five mCRPC pts (median age: 77 years [68-82]) had comorbidities. The median number of drugs used per patient was 7 [5-9]. 66 potential DDI with abiraterone were detected in 49 patients (52%): 39 and 61% were classified as major and moderate DDI, respectively. In the univariate analysis, pain (p < 0.0001), hypo-albuminemia (p = 0.032), and higher ECOG performance status (PS) (p = 0.013) were significantly associated with a higher risk of DDI with abiraterone. Pain (p < 0.0001) and PS (p = 0.018) remained significant in the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Polypharmacy is an issue among mCRPC patients. In our study, half of the patients have potential DDI with abiraterone. Patients with pain and poor PS are at higher risk of DDI with abiraterone. A medication review by a pharmacist is of crucial importance to prevent DDI with abiraterone.

Brain natriuretic peptide usefulness in very elderly dyspnoeic patients: the BED study.

AIMS: To evaluate the interest of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) for heart failure (HF) diagnosis in very old patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 383 patients aged 80 years or older, hospitalized in geriatrics care for dyspnoea, had a BNP measurement at the acute phase. Independent cardiologists blinded to BNP values classified the patients into cardiac vs. respiratory aetiology according to the European Society of Cardiology guidelines. Mean (SD) age was 88.5 (5.4) years, 66% (n = 254) of patients were women, 62% (n = 238) had cardiac dyspnoea and 38% (n = 145) had respiratory dyspnoea. The BNP levels were significantly higher in the cardiac group (median = 385.5 ng/L, interquartile range = 174.0-842.0) than in the respiratory group (median = 172.0 ng/L, interquartile range = 70.8-428.0; P < 0.001). On its own, BNP showed poor discriminative ability [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.68; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.62-0.73] for the diagnostic. In multivariate analysis, BNP remained independently associated with the cardiac aetiology after full-adjustment (odds ratio 1 log increase = 1.87; 95% CI 1.28-2.74), but did not improve the discrimination between the cardiac and the respiratory aetiologies (ΔAUC = 0.013, P = 0.16). In addition, although adding BNP to the other predictive covariates yielded a significant continuous NRI of 57.8% (95% CI 31.2-83.5%), the mean changes in individual predicted probabilities were too low (<3%) to be clinically relevant. CONCLUSION: In this population of very old patients with acute dyspnoea, despite being independently associated with the cardiac aetiology, BNP was not useful for better discriminating cardiac vs. respiratory origin.

[Tyrosine kinase inhibiting the VEGF pathway and elderly people: Tolerance, pre-treatment assessment and side effects management]. / Inhibiteurs de tyrosine kinase ciblant l'angiogenèse et sujets âgés : tolérance, évaluation pré-thérapeutique et gestion des effets indésirables.

Angiogenesis inhibition is a major antitumor strategy that has emerged during the last decade. Oral tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) targeting the VEGF receptor, including sunitinib, sorafenib, axitinib, regorafenib, pazopanib, and vandetanib reduce tumor growth and metastasis. These agents are approved for the treatment of metastatic diseases in first or second-line. They display a narrow therapeutic index. However, data in the elderly and/or in patients with multiple illnesses remain scarce. This population is classically excluded from clinical trials. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of existing literature regarding antiangiogenic TKI tolerance in the elderly (>70 years old). We also highlight key points of the pre-therapeutic evaluation and summarize the management of common toxicities.