Grant: Catalyst Grant: Biomedical & Clinical Approaches to Improving Quality of Life

Elderly cancer patients (ECP) are at risk for either being denied surgery because of their age alone or that they may undergo an operation that diminishes their quality and/or length of life post surgery. Present tools offered to surgeons for assessing the ability of ECP to undergo surgery are too long and complicated for their busy schedules. This is problematic as the assessment becomes based on intuition rather than objective medical science. We also know little about the timing of the assessment prior to surgery and when it is the most reflective of surgical outcomes. This project proposes to look at the physical state of the ECP at the initial assessment and whether there is a change in health status prior to surgery that may cause increased risk for post surgery complications. This information will be obtained through a streamlined version of the present assessment tools in conjunction with quantitative measures of physical and functional health. We hope that this knowledge will lead to a tool that is both "user friendly" and accurate in its identification of both patients that should and should not undergo surgical treatment of their cancer.