Usefulness of the G8 Geriatric Assessment Tool as a Prognostic Factor in Gemcitabine Plus Nab-paclitaxel Combination Therapy for Elderly Patients with Pancreatic Cancer

INTRODUCTION: The usefulness of various prognostic factors for advanced pancreatic cancer (APC) has been reported, but the number of elderly patients in these studies is disproportionately fewer than those in general practice. This study aimed to examine the prognostic factors for elderly patients with APC receiving gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel (GnP) considering the G8 geriatric assessment tool. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 77 elderly (≥65 years old) patients with APC who received GnP as first-line chemotherapy at our hospital. We used the receiver operating characteristic curve to set the optimal cutoff value for G8. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression models were applied to study independent prognostic factors. RESULTS: The progression-free survival was 5.5 months, and the overall survival (OS) was 12.0 months in all patients. The most optimal cutoff of G8 was 10.5. OS of G8 ≥10.5 patients was superior to that of G8 <10.5 patients (18.5 versus 8.0 months). Multivariate analysis showed that Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 1 (hazard ratio [HR] 3.00, p = 0.02), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio ≥3.9 (HR 2.73, p = 0.03), and G8 geriatric assessment <10.5 (HR 5.38, p < 0.001) were independent negative prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: G8 is useful for predicting prognoses in elderly patients with APC receiving GnP.