Can Geriatric Assessment Predict Oncology Outcomes?

描述(申请人提供)：背景：60%的癌症和70%的癌症死亡发生在65岁以上的人群中。随着人口老龄化，肿瘤学家需要开发一种方法来表征老年癌症患者的“功能年龄”，以便根据年龄以外的因素制定治疗决定和分层结果，并开发干预措施以优化癌症治疗。假设：可以为老年癌症患者制定一种老年工具，以确定与年龄无关的预测癌症治疗发病率和死亡率的因素，并得出合理的干预措施，以优化肿瘤护理。具体目标：1)确定新开发的老年癌症患者仪器的普遍可行性和心理测量学特性；2)评估老年仪器预测哪些老年患者更容易受到化疗毒性的能力；以及3)通过特定的干预措施确定老年仪器对临床护理和总体结果的影响。职业发展：通过这项工作，候选人将融合她之前在老年病学和肿瘤学方面的培训，并发展在老年肿瘤学领域发展独立研究生涯所需的技能。计划在临床试验设计、生物统计学和测量发展方面进行为期五年的教学课程。候选人将由以下领域的专家指导：肿瘤学(乔治·博塞尔博士，导师)、老年病学(马克·拉克斯博士，共同导师)、心理社会研究(爱丽丝·科恩布利斯博士，顾问)和生物统计学(凯瑟琳·帕纳吉斯博士和贝尔塞迪斯·彼得森博士，合作者)。通过这个职业发展奖，申请者将获得必要的技能，以追求在老年肿瘤学的独立研究生涯。通过这笔赠款的支持，候选人旨在进一步了解老年肿瘤学，从而提高患有癌症的老年美国人的健康和独立性以及生活质量。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): BACKGROUND: Sixty percent of all cancer and seventy percent of cancer mortality occurs in people over age 65. As the population ages, there is an emerging need to develop a means for oncologists to characterize the "functional age" of older patients with cancer in order to tailor treatment decisions and stratify outcomes based on factors other than chronological age and to develop interventions to optimize cancer treatment. HYPOTHESIS: A geriatric instrument for older patients with cancer can be formulated to identify factors independent of age that predict cancer treatment morbidity and mortality and result in rationale interventions to optimize oncologic care. SPECIFIC AIMS: 1) To determine the generalized feasibility and psychometric properties of a newly developed geriatric instrument for older patients with cancer; 2) To assess the geriatric instrument's ability to predict which older patients are more vulnerable to toxicity from chemotherapy; and 3) To determine the impact of the geriatric instrument on clinical care and overall outcomes through specific interventions. CAREER DEVELOPMENT: Through this work, the candidate will meld her previous training in geriatrics and oncology and develop the skills needed to develop an independent research career in geriatric oncology. Five years of didactic coursework in clinical trial design, biostatistics, and measurement development are planned. The candidate will be mentored by experts in the fields of oncology (Dr. George Bosl, Mentor), geriatrics (Dr. Mark Lachs, Co-Mentor), psychosocial research (Dr. Alice Kornblith, Advisor), and biostatistics (Dr. Katherine Panageas and Dr. Bercedis Peterson, collaborators). Through this career development award, the applicant will acquire the skills necessary to pursue an independent research career in geriatric oncology. Through the support of this grant, the candidate aims to further knowledge about geriatric oncology, and thus enhance the health and independence as well as the quality of life of older Americans with cancer.