Geriatric assessment  was most often completed to describe a patient 's health and functional status .
Geriatric assessment  in the oncology setting is feasible , and some domains are associated with adverse outcomes .
However , there is limited evidence that geriatric assessment impacted treatment decision making .
BACKGROUND Geriatric assessment is a multidisciplinary diagnostic process that evaluates the older adult 's medical , psychological , social , and functional capacity .
No systematic review of the use of geriatric assessment in oncology has been conducted .
The goals of this systematic review were : 1 ) to provide an overview of all geriatric assessment instruments used in the oncology setting ; 2 ) to examine the feasibility and psychometric properties of those instruments ; and 3 ) to systematic ally evaluate the effectiveness of geriatric assessment in predicting or modifying outcomes ( including the impact on treatment decision making , toxicity of treatment , and mortality ) .
A phase II study of weekly carboplatin and paclitaxel as first-line treatment of elderly patients with advanced ovarian cancer. A Multicentre Italian Trial in Ovarian cancer (MITO-5) study.
BACKGROUND Carboplatin/paclitaxel every 3 weeks is the st and ard for patients with ovarian cancer , but elderly patients frequently receive modified schedules or single agent chemotherapy to avoid toxicity . A phase II study was conducted to describe tolerability of a weekly schedule of both drugs in elderly patients . METHODS Patients aged > or=70 years with stage IC-IV ovarian cancer , performance status < or=2 , were eligible . Treatment was carboplatin ( AUC 2)+paclitaxel ( 60 mg/m2 ) on days 1 , 8 , 15 every 4 weeks , up to six cycles . A two-stage design was applied with lack of unacceptable toxicity as primary endpoint ; 26 patients were required at the final stage , with at least 23 of them without unacceptable toxicity to conclude for a positive result . Geriatric assessment was performed by activity daily living ( ADL ) and instrumental ADL ( IADL ) scales . RESULTS Twenty-six patients were analysed ( median age 77 years , range 70 - 84 ) . Performance status was 0 in 10 and 1 in 16 patients ; 14 patients had two or more comorbidities ; 8 and 18 patients had some dependency in ADL or IADL . Twenty-three patients ( 88.5 % ) were treated without suffering unacceptable toxicity . Unacceptable toxic events were grade 3 heart rhythm , grade 3 increase of liver transaminases and prolonged haematological toxicity . Grade 1 neuropathy was reported in four cases . Out of 13 patients evaluable by RECIST , 5 partial responses were observed ( response rate 38.5 % ) . Two complete responses were observed among six patients with non-target lesions . Eight patients eligible for CA-125 response assessment had a response after six cycles . Median estimated progression-free survival was 13.6 months , and median overall survival was 32.0 months . CONCLUSIONS In a series of elderly ovarian cancer patients , characterized by a high incidence of comorbidities and functional impairment , weekly carboplatin and paclitaxel demonstrated a favourable toxicity profile
Geriatric assessment  was most often completed to describe a patient 's health and functional status .
Geriatric assessment  in the oncology setting is feasible , and some domains are associated with adverse outcomes .
However , there is limited evidence that geriatric assessment impacted treatment decision making .
BACKGROUND Geriatric assessment is a multidisciplinary diagnostic process that evaluates the older adult 's medical , psychological , social , and functional capacity .
No systematic review of the use of geriatric assessment in oncology has been conducted .
The goals of this systematic review were : 1 ) to provide an overview of all geriatric assessment instruments used in the oncology setting ; 2 ) to examine the feasibility and psychometric properties of those instruments ; and 3 ) to systematic ally evaluate the effectiveness of geriatric assessment in predicting or modifying outcomes ( including the impact on treatment decision making , toxicity of treatment , and mortality ) .