Royal Surrey researchers develop new tool to assess frail patients’ physical ability to withstand cancer treatments
Researchers at the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Surrey have found that an electronic Frailty Index (eFI) can be used to predict the likelihood of frail patients surviving intensive cancer treatments such as chemotherapy.
In the largest study of its kind, the team used data from the Public Health England Systemic Chemotherapy Dataset (a national record of all cancer chemotherapy delivered by the NHS in England), applying information from the electronic Frailty Index to 78,799 patients with breast cancer, colon cancer, and lung cancer.
The study was led by Dr. Agnieszka Michael, Consultant Medical Oncologist and Associate Professor in Oncology at the University of Surrey. She said:
“Chemotherapy, whether it is given as a curative or palliative treatment is linked with severe toxicity and may cause hospital admissions or, in the worst-case scenario, death in patients who are frail.”
“It is important that patients have access to information including an individualised risk profile about how they are likely to cope with chemotherapy, as some may prefer not to have treatment or choose another form of treatment which could perhaps improve their quality of life.”
The electronic Frailty Index uses existing information within primary health care records to identify people aged 65 and over who may be living with varying degrees of frailty alongside pre-existing conditions such as issues with mobility, sight, and hearing.
It was found that patients who are frail, as outlined by the electronic Frailty Index, have a much higher risk of being admitted to hospital or dying within 30 days of undergoing chemotherapy.
“Our findings show that the electronic Frailty Index can accurately predict how a person with frailty physically copes with intensive cancer treatment such as chemotherapy,” said Dr. Michael.
“Our next step will be to implement the electronic Frailty Index into everyday practice, to allow patients and clinicians to choose the most appropriate treatment for patients with cancer.”
This research was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the world’s largest clinical oncology society, in June.