Clinical assessment of elderly people with cancer

As the elderly population increases, the diagnosis of cancer will become more common than it is today, and difficult decisions about treatment will need to be made by various health-care providers. An important issue not only for patients but also for the whole health-care system is that only those who will benefit from therapy are treated. Individuals for whom treatment will add neither quantity nor quality to their lifespan should not be subjected to potentially harmful treatment. Many assessment scales are validated in elderly people but not used in elderly patients with cancer. Comprehensive geriatric assessment provides an overarching method of assessment before, during, and after treatment. The benefits and shortcomings of other assessment scales are discussed in this review, showing settings in which their use might be appropriate in the developing specialty of geriatric oncology.