Abstract A55: A prospective geriatric breast cancer cohort study to define unique features and outcomes in older breast cancer patients
Authors: Noonan Anne M. , Overcash Janine A. , Suresh Anupama , Flora Laura K. , Stephens Julie , Bhatt Geetika , Reinbolt Raquel , Williams Nicole O. , Wesolowski Robert , VanDeusen Jeffrey B. , Sardesai Sagar D. , Lustberg Maryam B. , Ramaswamy Bhuvaneswari 
Published: August 2018

Background: Adults over age 65 are the fastes- growing segment of the US population. However, clinicians have less evidence of how to treat older adults, because they are underrepresented in clinical trials, and studies designed specifically for older adults are rare. Therefore, clinicians have to extrapolate from trials conducted in younger, healthier populations when developing treatment plans for older adults. Over 40% of new breast cancer diagnoses in the US occur in women aged over 65 years. In general, breast cancer in the older woman has distinct biologic features, including less aggressive characteristics and greater expression of estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor. Increasing age is associated with higher rates of comorbidity and frailty, which has been shown to potentially reduce the survival advantage of more aggressive breast cancer therapies. We are conducting a prospective cohort study of adults &gt; or = 65 years with a new diagnosis of breast cancer (OSU-16153) in order to better understand the complex health issues faced by this population, and to collect data with which to support future studies designed to improve the management of these patients.

Specific Aims: 1) To assess overall and progression-free survival of breast cancer patients ages 65 and older seen in the Breast Medical Oncology clinics at the Stefanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center at The Ohio State University; 2) to examine the association of demographic, diagnostic, and treatment data with patient outcomes, such as progression-free and overall survival, within this patient population; 3) to evaluate the unique needs of breast cancer patients ages 65 and older by implementing a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) within the Breast Medical Oncology clinics at The Ohio State University.

Methods: The study will enroll patients &gt; or = 65 years with a new diagnosis of breast cancer. Participants will complete a brief baseline questionnaire, including items addressing demographics, lifestyle, and health history. Patients will then be asked to complete a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) at the time of enrollment, and approximately every six months while on follow-up. The CGA contains both performance-based assessments of patients’ function, completed by study staff, as well as the patients’ self-reports of symptoms and quality of life. The CGA contains a multifaceted battery of clinical instruments including the PROMIS Global Short Form, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B), Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) Fatigue Scale, The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Geriatric Depression Scale, The James Supportive Care Screening Tool, Timed Up & Go Test, Grip Strength, Blessed Orientation-Memory-Concentration Test, Mini-Cog Test, Charlson Comorbidity Index, Mini Nutritional Assessment, Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living, and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living. Participant medical records will be reviewed every three months to assess survival, disease progression, and treatment changes. All questionnaire data will be completed using iPads, and will be directly recorded into the REDCap database. Electronic medical records will be reviewed by research staff, and relevant data will be manually entered into the REDCap database. The aim is to enroll 1,000 participants, and the recruitment period will be five years from study initiation. Participants will be followed for five years from the time of enrollment, resulting in a total study length of ten years.

The study opened to accrual on 18 April 2017. To date 3 patients have been enrolled and have completed baseline assessments.

Citation Format: Anne M. Noonan, Janine A. Overcash, Anupama Suresh, Laura K. Flora, Julie Stephens, Geetika Bhatt, Raquel Reinbolt, Nicole O. Williams, Robert Wesolowski, Jeffrey B. VanDeusen, Sagar D. Sardesai, Maryam B. Lustberg, Bhuvaneswari Ramaswamy. A prospective geriatric breast cancer cohort study to define unique features and outcomes in older breast cancer patients [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Advances in Breast Cancer Research; 2017 Oct 7-10; Hollywood, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2018;16(8_Suppl):Abstract nr A55.