Prospective evaluation of the G8 screening tool for prognostication of survival in elderly patients with lung cancer: A single-institution study

The G8 questionnaire is a quick and easy-to-use screening tool. Several studies reported that the G8 questionnaire had a high sensitivity for predicting abnormalities in the full comprehensive geriatric assessment and predicted functional decline and survival in elderly cancer patients. The present study aimed to evaluate the role of the G8 questionnaire for predicting clinical outcomes and overall survival (OS) in elderly patients with lung cancer, who received chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. The data of 101 lung cancer patients aged ≥70 years, who were hospitalized between September 2011 and August 2014, were analyzed. Of these patients (median age, 77 years), 83 (82%) had impaired G8 scores. The proportion of patients with an impaired G8 score was significantly higher in patients aged ≥80 years than those aged <80 years (p = 0.04). All 18 patients with a normal G8 score possessed an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) of 0 or 1, and none of the patients with a normal G8 score had an ECOG PS of ≥2 (p < 0.0001). An impaired G8 score tended to correlate with a relative dose intensity of <0.65 in patients who received chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy (p = 0.05, odds ratio = 5.40). In the univariate analysis, an ECOG PS of ≥2 and an impaired G8 score were significantly associated with a poor OS (p = 0.009 and p = 0.003, respectively). Moreover, in the multivariate analysis, an ECOG PS of ≥2 (HR 2.55; 95% CI, 1.23–5.30; p = 0.01) and an impaired G8 score (HR 3.86; 95% CI, 1.44–13.36; p = 0.006) were remained independent prognostic factor for OS. G8 screening tool is useful for the prognostication of elderly lung cancer patients treated with chemotherapy. These finding suggest that the G8 questionnaire could be a useful tool in treatment decision-making to predict prognosis and prevent patients from receiving inappropriate anti-cancer treatment near the end of life.