Trial Information

Cancer in the Elderly: Prevalence and Impact of Age Related Problems. A Prospective Observational Study

The proportion of elderly cancer patients is high and is likely to increase due to an
increasing cancer incidence and an aging population. The prevalence and impact of age
related problems are, however, poorly documented, and elderly patients may therefore be
subjects to under-treatment and arbitrary modifications of treatment regimens. In order to
improve clinical practice, precise identification of patients with increased vulnerability
and risk of adverse outcomes is paramount.

In the present study, eligible patients will be identified by referral to oncology services
at one of the participating cancer units. After consent, the baseline registrations will be
performed including relevant medical and sociodemographic data, and quality of life. Age
related problems will be assessed by clinical indicators covering comorbidity, medication,
emotional, physical and cognitive function and nutritional status. Muscle mass will be
quantified by analyses of diagnostic CT scans and a biobank will be established for the
analyses of inflammatory markers. Upon inclusion, the patients' physician will be asked to
rate the patients as fit, frail or intermediate according to the physicians' subjective
judgement. The patients will be followed with assessments of quality of life, emotional
function and nutritional status (self-report), cognitive and physical function (performance
tests), muscle mass (diagnostic CT scans when available) and inflammatory markers (biobank).
Follow up data will also include registry data (hospital records, primary health care
registries, The Norwegian Patient Registry, The Norwegian Cancer Registry and the Norwegian
Cause of Death registry). We will describe the prevalence of age related problems,
investigate the relation between clinical frailty indicators, sarcopenia, inflammatory
response and the physicians' subjective evaluation of the patients' health status. The
predictive/prognostic impact of frailty indicators on the patients' quality of life,
hospital and nursing home admittance, treatment toxicity and survival will also be
investigated