Influence of the geriatric oncology consultation on the final therapeutic decision in elderly subjects with cancer: analysis of 191 patients.

Objectives: Evaluate the impact of the Geriatric Oncology Consultation on the final therapeutic management of cancer in elderly patients aged 70 and older.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: The Pilot Coordination Unit in Geriatric Oncology of Côte d'Or, Burgundy, France.

Participants: From January 2010 to December 2010, 191 patients with cancer aged 70 and older.

Measurements: The concordance between the treatments proposed following the Tumor Board, those proposed following the Geriatric Evaluation (GE) and those actually given to the patients was evaluated using the Kappa agreement test.

Results: One hundred and ninety-one patients were included. Mean age was 81.5. The most frequent cancer locations were breast (31.9%), colon-rectum (14.1%) and lung (10.5%). Concordance between the cancer treatments proposed by the Tumor Board and those suggested after the GE was excellent except for chemotherapy and targeted therapy, which were recommended less frequently by the geriatrician (Kappa = 0.67), and support care, which was more often proposed after the GE (Kappa = 0.61). However, concordance between treatments proposed by the geriatrician and treatment actually given was not so good for chemotherapy (Kappa = 0.58), and surgery (Kappa = 0.61), since both were often replaced by a less aggressive treatment.

Conclusion: Concordance between the therapies proposed during the Tumor Board or after the Geriatric Oncology Consultation and the treatment actually given was satisfactory. However, the role of the oncologist remains determinant in the final choice, especially for chemotherapy.