Supriya Gupta Mohile, MD, MS, professor of medicine and surgery, James Wilmot Cancer Institute, director, Geriatric Oncology Clinic, University of Rochester, discusses implementing geriatric assessments into cancer care.

In a study examining improving communication with older patients with cancer, assessing the health-related concerns improved doctor-patient communication and decision-making. Geriatric assessment improves communication for any patient with advanced cancer undergoing treatment, says Mohile. Currently, the guidelines suggest conducting a geriatric assessment for patients beginning chemotherapy, which Mohile adds should be given to any patient over 65 with advanced cancer.

The guidelines were created with community oncologists in order to identify the highest priority tools that were the easiest to implement. Mohile says that the geriatric assessment should only take 10 to 15 minutes, and it can be done in the waiting room, in the office, or at home before the patient visits the oncologist. Anyone can organize the assessment—it does not have to be the oncologist. It is helpful for the oncologist to have this information ahead of time, Mohile says, and once they get used to it, the assessment will save a lot of time and be widely adopted.

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Dr. Mohile on Implementing Geriatric Assessment into Cancer Care

Supriya Gupta Mohile, MD, MS, professor of medicine and surgery, James Wilmot Cancer Institute, director, Geriatric Oncology Clinic, University of Rochester, discusses clustered findings with a geriatric assessment for older patients with cancer in an interview with 

A geriatric assessment is a standardized tool to assess health status in older adults, using age, comorbidity, and performance status. However, those characteristics are not the most effective way to identify patients at highest risk of poor outcomes, Mohile explains. Evidence suggest that geriatric assessments can help oncologists identify patients who are at the highest risk of adverse outcomes, such as toxicity from treatment, hospitalization, mortality, and functional decline. These have also been published in recent ASCO guidelines, she adds.

Patients aged 70 and older may have medical conditions other than cancer that would make them unlikely candidates for clinical trials, but their life expectancy is often long enough to warrant cancer treatment; however, there are limited data for these patients. Mohile questions how oncologists can improve conversations about issues that older patients and caregivers care about, and how the geriatric assessment can be used to do that.

The clustered study showed that providing a geriatric assessment summary to oncologists increases the number and quality of discussions about age-related concerns and improves patient satisfaction.

Supriya Gupta Mohile, MD, MS, professor of medicine and surgery, James Wilmot Cancer Institute, director, Geriatric Oncology Clinic, University of Rochester, discusses pooled findings with a geriatric assessment for older patients with cancer in an interview with OncLive during the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Supriya Gupta Mohile, MD, MS

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