Geriatric assessment domains to predict overall survival in older cancer patients: An analysis of functional status, comorbidities, and nutritional status as prognostic factors

Cancer treatments for older patients must account for heterogeneity in health and functional status. Guidelines advocate the use of geriatric assessments (GAs), but comprehensive assessments are laborious and the utility of specific GA domains remains unclear. The identification of specific domains as prognostic factors may support survival predictions and treatment decisions. We aimed to evaluate the associations between several GA domains and overall survival in older cancer patients. We linked cancer registry data and administrative claims data from cancer patients residing in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. The subjects were patients aged ≥70 years who received a diagnosis of gastric, colorectal, or lung cancer between 2010 and 2014 at 36 designated cancer care hospitals. The following three GA domains were assessed at cancer diagnosis: functional status through activities of daily living (ADL), comorbidities, and nutritional status through body mass index. Cox proportional hazards models were constructed for the three cancer types to estimate each domain's prognostic effect while adjusting for gender, age, and cancer stage. Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for all‐cause mortality were calculated. We identified 5,559, 4,746, and 4,837 patients with gastric, colorectal, and lung cancer respectively. ADL impairment (HRs: 1.39‐3.34, 1.64‐2.86, and 1.24‐3.21 for gastric, colorectal, and lung cancer, respectively), comorbidities (1.32‐1.58, 1.33‐1.97, and 1.19‐1.29 for gastric, colorectal, and lung cancer, respectively), and underweight (1.36, 1.51, and 1.54 for gastric, colorectal, and lung cancer, respectively) were significantly associated with poorer overall survival. In contrast, overweight was significantly associated with improved overall survival (HRs: 0.82 and 0.89 for gastric and lung cancer respectively). The addition of the three domains increased the models’ C‐statistics (0.816 to 0.836, 0.764 to 0.787, and 0.759 to 0.783 for gastric, colorectal, and lung cancer respectively). Incorporating these factors into initial patient evaluations during diagnosis may aid prognostic predictions and treatment strategies in geriatric oncology.