Preoperative frailty assessment in older patients with colorectal cancer: use of clinical and radiological tool.

PURPOSE: The Memorial Sloan Kattering Frailty Index (MSK-FI) and the Skeletal Muscle Index (SMI) have recently gained attention as markers of frailty and decreased physiologic reserve, and are promising as predictors of adverse postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing oncologic surgery. The objective of this study was to establish the prognostic accuracy of these indexes in a cohort of patients with colorectal cancer subjected to surgical intervention. METHODS: We performed an observational study including all patients older than 60 years, subjected to colorectal cancer surgery between January 2010 and May 2020, and stratified our cohort based on the presence of frailty, as defined by MSK-FI ≥ 3. Computed tomography was used to calculate SMI, using a standardized institutional protocol. A multivariable analysis was used to study the association between these novel indexes with adverse postoperative outcomes in our cohort. RESULTS: A total of 216 patients were included. Among these, 56 (26%) qualified as frail and 132 (62%) had a low SMI. On multivariable analysis (adjusted by patient and intraoperative characteristics), frailty was associated with increased risk of having a major postoperative complication (OR 29.78, 95%CI 10.36-85.71) and increased admission to the intensive care unit (OR 4.99, 95%CI 1.55-16.06), while both frailty and low SMI were associated with prolonged length of stay (OR 11.22, 95%CI 8.91-13.53 and OR 0.14, 95% CI 0.06-0.20, respectively). CONCLUSION: MSK-FI ≥ 3 and low SMI are associated with adverse postoperative outcomes in elderly patients undergoing colorectal cancer surgery. Implementing this practical tool in routine clinical practice, may help identify patients that would benefit from surgical prehabilitation and preoperative optimization to improve outcomes.

The Frailty Based on the Memorial Sloan Kettering Frailty Index for Prediction of Surgical Outcome in Advance Epithelial Ovarian Cancer-Experience of a Single Center in Mexico.

Retrospective impact evaluation of frailty as measured by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Frailty Index (MSK-FI) on outcomes in older women surgically treated for advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Women ≥ 60 years with stage IIIC/IV EOC who underwent primary debulking surgery (PDS) or interval debulking surgery (IDS) were included. Medical records were reviewed for patients' characteristics and outcomes. We retrospectively applied the MSK-FI which included 10 comorbidities and functional assessment that were extracted from medical records. The MSK-FI ranges from 0 to 11; a score of ≥ 3 was considered frail. Associations were assessed using logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards regression. We identified 79 patients treated with PDS (n = 36, 45.5%) or IDS (n = 43, 54.4%) with complete data. The prevalence of frailty based on MSK-FI was 25%. Almost half of the frail patients (47.3%) were admitted to the ICU compared to 16% of non-frail patients (p = 0.006). In univariable analysis, the MSK-FI was associated with postoperative complications [OR 1.57 (95% CI 1.04-2.37), p = 0.03] and ICU admission [OR 2.05 (95% CI 1.30-3.23), p = 0.002], but not with readmission rate [OR 1.29 (95% CI 0.65-2.59), p = 0.5], postoperative mortality [OR 1.02 (95% CI 0.51-2.00), p = 0.9], and hospital stay [ß 0.60 (95% CI - 1.19-2.41)]. In multivariable analysis, the frailty index was independently associated with postoperative complications [OR 1.54 (95% CI 1.02-2.34), p = 0.04] and ICU admissions [OR 1.97 (95% CI 1.23-3.16), p = 0.004]. Frailty, based on the Memorial Sloan Kettering Frailty Index, is associated with adverse postoperative outcomes in older women with advanced ovarian cancer, suggesting that MSK-FI can improve the predictive ability of current surgical assessment tools.

Urological Cancers and Kidney Transplantation: a Literature Review.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The aim of this review is to provide an overview of epidemiology, risk factors, and treatment of urological malignancies in renal transplant recipients (RTR). RECENT FINDINGS: Although optimal immunosuppressive therapy and cancer management in these patients remain controversial, adherence to general guidelines is recommended. Kidney transplantation is recognized as the standard of care for the treatment of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) as it offers prolonged survival and better quality of life. In the last decades, survival of RTRs has increased as a result of improved immunosuppressive therapy; nonetheless, the risk of developing cancer is higher among RTRs compared to the general population. Urological malignancies are the second most common after hematological cancer and often have more aggressive behavior and poor prognosis.