Update in geriatrics: What geriatric oncology can learn from general geriatric research

Life expectancy has been steadily increasing for decades and this trend is likely to continue in coming years. In fact, there is more than a 50% probability that by 2030 female life expectancy could break the 90 year barrier, with more than half of the expected gains due to enhanced longevity above the age of 65 years. The resultant aging of societies means that health care will be faced with a rising number of increasingly older patients, who are also likely to have higher levels of multimorbidity. Most issues regarding assessment, prognostication and, management of older patients are not unique to geriatric oncology and thus there is opportunity to learn from progress in other fields. The purpose of this paper is to provide an update on research, reviews, and debate in general geriatrics that may be relevant to clinicians and researchers active in geriatric oncology. The selection of topics was based on a general search of the table of contents of widely read geriatrics and internal medicine journals, and includes geriatric co-management, improving research for older patients, caregiver issues, eliciting patient preferences, and shared-decision making.