Prognostic impact of geriatric assessment in elderly patients with non-small cell lung cancer: an integrated analysis of two randomized phase III trials (JCOG1115-A)

Objective: Patients' actual age and performance status do not always accurately identify the 'fit elderly' for chemotherapy. This study aimed to determine whether four geriatric assessment tools could predict prognosis.

Methods: This study were analyzed using the data of two randomized phase III trials (JCOG0207 and JCOG0803/WJOG4307L) for elderly patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer and included all eligible patients who were assessed before treatment with four geriatric assessment tools: the Barthel activities of daily living index, Lawton instrumental activities of daily living scale, Mini-Mental State Examination, and Geriatric Depression Scale-15. Univariable and multivariable analyses for overall survival, adjusted for baseline factors, were performed using a stratified Cox regression model with treatment regimen as strata.

Results: This analysis included 330 patients aged 70-74, 75-79 or 80 or more (n = 95/181/54), with a performance status of 0 or 1 (n = 119/211). Patients were divided into three groups based on Mini-Mental State Examination and two groups based on Geriatric Depression Scale, but over 80% of patients had perfect scores for both activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living. In overall survival subgroup analyses by GA tool, only Mini-Mental State Examination scores were associated with substantial outcome differences (median survival times: 21.2, 13.5 and 12.2 months for scores 30, 29-24 and ≤23). After adjusting for baseline factors, the Mini-Mental State Examination, sex and performance status were tended to be worse overall survival.

Conclusion: MMSE scores, performance status and sex, but not chronological age, effectively predicted the prognosis of elderly patients. Further studies should confirm that the Mini-Mental State Examination is useful for determining the indication of chemotherapy in elderly patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.