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Background: Hearing and visual impairments are common among community-dwelling older adults, and are associated with psychological, functional, and cognitive deficits. However, to the authors' knowledge, little is known regarding their prevalence among older patients with cancer.Methods: The current study was a secondary analysis combining 2 prospective cohorts of adults aged ≥65 years with solid tumors who were receiving chemotherapy. The authors assessed the association between patient-reported hearing and/or visual impairment (defined as fair/poor grading by self-report) and physical function, instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), anxiety, depression, and cognition. Descriptive analyses were conducted to summarize patient and treatment characteristics. One-way analysis of variance and chi-square tests were conducted as appropriate to examine differences between patients with and without sensory impairments. Logistic regression was used to analyze associations between sensory impairments and outcomes.Results: Among 750 patients with a median age of 72 years who had solid tumors (29% with breast/gynecological tumors, 28% with lung tumors, and 27% with gastrointestinal tumors), approximately 18% reported hearing impairment alone, 11% reported visual impairment alone, and 7% reported dual sensory impairment. Hearing impairment was associated with IADL dependence (odds ratio [OR], 1.9), depression (OR, 1.6), and anxiety (OR, 1.6). Visual impairment was associated with IADL dependence (OR, 1.9), poor physical function (OR, 1.9), and depression (OR, 2.5). Dual impairment was associated with IADL dependence (OR, 2.8), anxiety (OR, 2.3), depression (OR, 2.5), and cognitive impairment (OR, 3.2).Conclusions: Sensory impairment is common among older adults with cancer. Patients with sensory impairment are more likely to have functional, psychological, and cognitive deficits. Interventions aimed at improving the vision and hearing of older adults with cancer should be studied. Cancer 2018. © 2018 American Cancer Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Older women with breast cancer frequently experience toxicity‐related hospitalizations during adjuvant chemotherapy. Although the geriatric assessment can identify those at risk, its use in clinic remains limited. One simple, low‐cost marker of vulnerability in older persons is fall history. Here, the authors examined whether falls prechemotherapy can identify older women at risk for toxicity‐related hospitalization during adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer. Methods: In a prospective study of women >65 years old with stage I–III breast cancer treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, the authors assessed baseline falls in the past 6 months as a categorical variable: no fall, one fall, and more than one fall. The primary end point was incident hospitalization during chemotherapy attributable to toxicity. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the association between falls and toxicity‐related hospitalization, adjusting for sociodemographic, disease, and geriatric covariates. Results: Of the 497 participants, 60 (12.1%) reported falling before chemotherapy, and 114 (22.9%) had one or more toxicity‐related hospitalizations. After adjusting for sociodemographic, disease, and geriatric characteristics, women who fell more than once within 6 months before chemotherapy had greater odds of being hospitalized from toxicity during chemotherapy compared to women who did not fall (50.0% vs. 20.8% experienced toxicity‐related hospitalization, odds ratio, 4.38; 95% confidence interval, 1.66–11.54, p =.003). Conclusions: In this cohort of older women with early breast cancer, women who experienced more than one fall before chemotherapy had an over 4‐fold increased risk of toxicity‐related hospitalization during chemotherapy, independent of sociodemographic, disease, and geriatric factors. In this study, nearly one in four older women with early breast cancer experienced toxicity‐related hospitalization during chemotherapy. Women who reported more than one fall in the 6 months leading up to chemotherapy had a greater than four times higher odds of experiencing toxicity‐related hospitalization during treatment than women who reported no falls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rigorous processes ensure quality of research and clinical care at National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers (NCICCCs). Unmeasurable elements of structure and process of cancer care delivery warrant evaluation. To the authors' knowledge, the impact of NCICCC care on survival and access to NCICCCs for vulnerable subpopulations remain unstudied.Methods: The current study's population-based cohort of 69,579 patients had newly diagnosed adult-onset (aged 22-65 years) cancers reported to the Los Angeles County cancer registry between 1998 and 2008. Geographic information systems were used for geospatial analysis.Results: With regard to overall survival across multiple diagnoses, patients not receiving their first planned treatment at NCICCCs experienced poorer outcomes compared with those treated at NCICCCs; differences persisted on multivariable analyses after adjusting for clinical and sociodemographic factors (hepatobiliary: hazard ratio [HR], 1.5; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.4-1.7 [P<.001]; lung: HR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.3-1.6 [P<.001]; pancreatic: HR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.3-1.7 [P<.001]; gastric: HR, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.1-1.7 [P = .01]; breast: HR, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.1-1.5 [P<.001]; and colorectal: HR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.0-1.4 [P = .05]). With regard to barriers to care, multivariable analyses revealed that a lower likelihood of treatment at NCICCCs was associated with race/ethnicity (African-American: OR range across diagnoses: 0.4-0.7 [P<.03]; Hispanic: OR range, 0.5-0.7 [P<.04]); lack of private insurance (public: OR range, 0.6-0.8 [P<.004]; uninsured: OR range, 0.1-0.5 [P<.04]); less than high socioeconomic status (high-middle: OR range, 0.4-0.7 [P<.02]; middle: OR range, 0.3-0.5 [P<.001]; and low: OR range, 0.2-0.6 [P<.01]), and residing >9 miles from the nearest NCICCC (OR range, 0.5-0.7 [P<.02]).Conclusions: Among individuals aged 22 to 65 years residing in Los Angeles County with newly diagnosed adult-onset cancer, those who were treated at NCICCCs experienced superior survival compared with those treated at non-NCICCC facilities. Barriers to care at NCICCCs included race/ethnicity, insurance, socioeconomic status, and distance to an NCICCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Methods Results Conclusion Older adults with cancer facing competing treatments must prioritize between various outcomes. This study assessed health outcome prioritization among older adults with cancer starting chemotherapy.Secondary analysis of a randomized trial addressing vulnerabilities in older adults with cancer. Patients completed three validated outcome prioritization tools: 1) Health Outcomes Tool: prioritizes outcomes (survival, independence, symptoms) using a visual analog scale; 2) Now vs. Later Tool: rates the importance of quality of life at three times—today versus 1 or 5 years in the future; and 3) Attitude Scale: rates agreement with outcome‐related statements. The authors measured the proportion of patients prioritizing various outcomes and evaluated their characteristics.A total of 219 patients (median [range] age 71 [65–88], 68% with metastatic disease) were included. On the Health Outcomes Tool, 60.7% prioritized survival over other outcomes. Having localized disease was associated with choosing survival as top priority. On the Now vs. Later Tool, 50% gave equal importance to current versus future quality of life. On the Attitude Scale, 53.4% disagreed with the statement “the most important thing to me is living as long as I can, no matter what my quality of life is”; and 82.2% agreed with the statement “it is more important to me to maintain my thinking ability than to live as long as possible”.Although survival was the top priority for most participants, some older individuals with cancer prioritize other outcomes, such as cognition and function. Clinicians should elicit patient‐defined priorities and include them in decision‐making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nutritional status can directly affect morbidity and mortality in older adults with cancer. This study evaluated the association between pretreatment body mass index (BMI), albumin level, and unintentional weight loss (UWL) in the prior 6 months and chemotherapy toxicity among older adults with solid tumors.Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a prospective, multicenter study involving chemotherapy-treated patients 65 years old or older. Geriatric assessment, BMI, albumin level, and UWL data were collected before treatment. Multivariable logistic regression models evaluated the associations between nutritional factors and the risk of grade 3 or higher (grade 3+) chemotherapy toxicity.Results: Seven hundred fifty patients with a median age of 72 years (range, 65-94 years) and mostly stage IV disease were enrolled. The median pretreatment BMI and albumin values were 26 kg/m2 (range, 15.1-52.1 kg/m2 ) and 3.9 mg/dL (range, 1.0-5.0 mg/dL), respectively. Nearly 50% of the patients reported UWL, with 17.6% reporting >10% UWL. Multivariable analysis revealed no association between >10% UWL and a risk for grade 3+ chemotherapy toxicity (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.87; P = .58). Multivariable analysis showed a trend toward an association between a BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 and a decreased risk of grade 3+ chemotherapy toxicity (AOR, 0.65; P = .06), whereas a low albumin level (≤3.6 mg/dL) was associated with a higher risk of grade 3+ chemotherapy toxicity (AOR, 1.50; P = .03). An analysis of the joint effect of BMI and albumin demonstrated the lowest risk of grade 3+ chemotherapy toxicity among patients with high BMIs (≥30 kg/m2 ) and normal albumin levels (AOR, 0.41; P = .008).Conclusions: Among older adults with solid tumors, higher BMIs and normal albumin levels are associated with a lower risk of grade 3+ chemotherapy toxicity. Additional research is warranted to define the clinical significance of nutritional markers and to inform future interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Frailty has been suggested as a construct for oncologists to consider in treating older cancer patients. Therefore, the authors assessed the potential of creating a deficit-accumulation frailty index (DAFI) from a largely self-administered comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA).Methods: Five hundred patients aged ≥65 years underwent a CGA before receiving chemotherapy. A DAFI was constructed, resulting in a 51-item scale, and cutoff values were examined for patients in the robust/nonfrail (cutoff value, 0.0 < 0.2), prefrail (cutoff value, 0.2 < 0.35), and frail (cutoff value, ≥ 0.35) groups.Results: Two hundred and fifty patients (50%) were nonfrail, 197 (39%) were prefrail, and 52 (11%) were frail. Older patients (aged ≥ 80 years) and those who had lower education, were living alone, and had higher stage disease were associated with prefrail/frail status. Prefrail/frail patients were more likely to have grade ≥3 toxicity but not to have a dose delay or reduction, and they were more likely to discontinue drug and be hospitalized. The association with grade ≥3 toxicity was attenuated by controlling for a toxicity risk calculator, but the other outcomes were not.Conclusions: A deficit-accumulation frailty index can be constructed from a CGA in older patients with cancer and can indicate the frailty status of the population. The frailty status so determined is associated both with outcomes likely because of chemotherapy toxicity and with those likely because of age-related physiologic and functional deficits and thus can be useful in the overall assessment of the patient. Cancer 2016;122:3865-3872. © 2016 American Cancer Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which investigates the trends in the survival of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients and determines how these trends differ among racial, socioeconomic, and ethnic groups. The study used HCC patients' data in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. The result shows that the survival of HCC patients improves for all ethnic, racial and income groups, but the black race has the poorest survival while Asian has the best chances of survival.

Background: Long-term hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) survivors have a high prevalence of severe and chronic health conditions, placing significant demands on the healthcare system. The objective of the current study was to evaluate and compare the healthcare utilization by adult Hispanic and non-Hispanic white long-term survivors of HCT.Methods: A mailed questionnaire was used to assess self-reported healthcare utilization in 3 domains: general contact with healthcare system, general physical examination outside cancer center (GPE), and cancer/HCT center visit. Eligible individuals had undergone HCT between 1974 and 1998, at age > or =21 years, and had survived > or =2 years after HCT.Results: The cohort included 681 non-Hispanic white and 137 Hispanic survivors. The median age at HCT was 38.3 years, and the median length of follow-up was 6.6 years. Hispanic survivors had lower family income and education and were more likely to lack health insurance. The prevalence of GPE increased significantly over time among non-Hispanic whites (67% at 2-5 years to 76% at 11+ years) but remained unchanged among Hispanics (66% to 61%). Cancer/HCT center visits declined over time among both Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites, but a higher proportion of Hispanics reported cancer/HCT center visits at 11+ years after HCT (81% vs 54%).Conclusions: Compared with non-Hispanic whites, Hispanic survivors are less likely to establish contact with primary care providers years after HCT and to continue to receive care at cancer/HCT centers. Future studies of this population are needed to establish the factors responsible for this pattern of healthcare utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The authors investigated the risk of delayed chronic kidney disease (CKD) in 1190 adult hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) survivors who underwent HCT for hematologic malignancies or aplastic anemia between 1976 and 1997 and survived for at least 1 year.Methods: CKD was defined as a sustained elevation of serum creatinine that indicated a glomerular filtration rate of <60 mL per minute per 1.73 m2 for > or =3 months. The median age at HCT was 35 years (range, 18.1-68.6 years), and the median length of follow-up was 7.1 years after HCT (range, 1-24.3 years).Results: Sixty patients with CKD were identified, resulting in a cumulative incidence of 4.4% at 5 years (autologous HCT, 3.8%; matched-sibling HCT, 4.5%; unrelated donor HCT, 10%; P = .09 compared with autologous HCT). Older age at HCT (relative risk [RR] per 5-year increment, 1.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2-1.5), exposure to cyclosporine without tacrolimus (RR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.1-3.4) or with tacrolimus (RR, 4.59; 95% CI, 1.8-11.5), and a primary diagnosis of multiple myeloma (RR, 2.51; 95% CI, 1.1-5.6) were associated with an increased risk of delayed CKD.Conclusions: In this study, the authors identified a subpopulation of patients who underwent HCT and remained at increased risk for CKD. The current findings set the stage for appropriate long-term follow-up of vulnerable patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]