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 ) .
Predictors of treatment failures during chemotherapy: A prospective study on 110 older cancer patients.
Several instruments have been proposed to improve treatment decisions in elderly cancer patients , but evidence of their impact in clinical practice is limited . The aim of this study was to analyze the role of clinical and functional factors in predicting serious adverse events , including death , severe toxicity or treatment interruption , during chemotherapy in elderly cancer patients . The survey evaluated elderly with lung or colon or breast cancer treated with chemotherapy , followed by S. Giovanni Battista Hospital . We enrolled 110 consecutive patients older than 70 years of age with lung ( n=45 ) , colon ( n=50 ) and breast ( n=15 ) cancer between October 2004 and October 2005 . Overall , 73/110 patients ( 66.4 % ) experienced adverse events as death ( n=14 ) , grade s III and IV toxicity ( n=40 ) , or treatment interruption for other reasons ( n=19 ) . The variables with stronger predictivity were advanced stage , toxicity of treatment , level of comorbidity and Karnofsky performance status ( KPS ) . instrumental activities of daily living ( IADL ) index and age itself were not independent predictors . In conclusion our results confirm the need of a careful selection of elderly patients suitable for chemotherapy  , giving more weight to comorbidity and KPS scores than to age itself . The potential role of other functional evaluations need to be further assessed in r and omized controlled trials
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 ) .