[A multicenter retrospective clinical study of a simplified comprehensive geriatric assessment system in elderly...

Objective: To evaluate the predictive value of simplified geriatric assessment (sGA) in elderly Chinese patients diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) . Methods: It retrospectively analyzed the relationships of sGA with the clinical characteristics, outcome, and prognosis of 219 patients aged ≥60 years who were newly diagnosed with DLBCL at six hospitals in Jiangsu province between January 2018 and December 2022. Results: The median age of 219 patients was 68 years (60-87 years). According to the sGA system criteria, 101 (46.1%), 103 (47.0%), and 15 (6.8%) elderly patients with DLBCL were categorized as fit, unfit, and frail, respectively. The most common adverse reactions after chemotherapy were hematologic, and the incidence of grade >2 hematologic adverse reactions was similar among the three groups (47.5% vs 41.7% vs 46.7%, respectively; χ(2)=0.712, P=0.700). Compared with the fit and unfit groups, the frail group showed tendencies toward for higher proportions of grade >2 gastrointestinal, pulmonary, and infectious adverse reactions (P>0.05 for all). The fit, unfit, and frail groups had respective remission rates of 74.3%, 46.6%, and 20.0% (χ(2)=25.249, P<0.001) ; disease progression rates of 5.9%, 11.7%, and 26.7% (χ(2)=6.763, P<0.05) ; 2-year overall survival rates of 92.1% (95% CI 86.6% to 97.9%), 77.6% (95% CI 69.5% to 86.6%), and 70.1% (95% CI 49.4% to 99.6%) (P<0.05) ; and 2-year progression-free survival rates of 76.8% (95% CI 67.0% to 84.8%), 69.7% (95% CI 61.8% to 82.0%), and 65.7% (95% CI 53.3% to 100%) (P=0.399) . Conclusion: sGA can effectively predict treatment adverse effects and efficacy, disease progression, and long-term survival in elderly DLBCL.