Development of a geriatric vulnerability score in elderly patients with advanced ovarian cancer treated with first-line carboplatin: a GINECO prospective trial.

BACKGROUND Two previous GINECO elderly specific studies in advanced ovarian cancer (AOC) patients highlighted the prognostic value of geriatric covariates for overall survival (OS). PATIENTS AND METHODS This open-label prospective trial was designed to identify the impact of geriatric covariates on OS in AOC patients ≥70 years treated with first-line carboplatin. RESULTS Geriatric covariates of the 111 patients included median age 79 years (≥80 years: 41%); performance status (PS) ≥2: 47%; ≥3 major comorbidities: 24%; ≥4 comedications: 68%; activities of daily living (ADL) score <6: 55%; instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) score <25: 69%; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) >14: 37%. The median OS was 17.4 months. Overall, 74% of patients completed the six planned chemotherapy cycles. Grade 3-4 haematological toxic effects were frequent (50%) but manageable. Grade 3-4 non-haematological toxicities included fatigue (15%), anorexia (12%), infections (9%) and thrombosis (2%). A survival score = exp(0.327*GVS) was developed, where the geriatric vulnerability score (GVS) is the sum of the following (each assigned a value of one): albuminaemia <35 g/l; ADL score <6; IADL score <25; lymphopaenia <1 G/l; and HADS >14. With a cut-off ≥3, GVS discriminated two groups with significantly different OS, treatment completion, severe adverse events and unplanned hospital admissions rates. CONCLUSIONS The GVS is a valuable tool for identifying vulnerable patients when treating an elderly AOC population.