title: Do symptoms matter when considering patients for phase I clinical trials?: a pilot study of older adults with advanced cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Older adults (OA) with advanced cancer (AC) undergoing phase I clinical trials (PICT) have poor prognosis. There are no studies which describe symptoms experienced by OA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective chart review of PICT participants >60 years. OA were compared by age (>65 vs 60-65) and by number of symptoms (>3 vs ≤3).
  
  
  RESULTS
  N = 56. Mean age = 67.09; 48.21% female. Median life-expectancy = 5 months (interquartile range = 2-9 months); 80.36% had pain; of those 64% without pain scale. Most did not have interdisciplinary professionals or hospice referrals. Older adults with >3 symptoms had more admissions (37.5% vs 14.29%; P = .0335), complications (46.43% vs 16.07%; P = .0026), and greater decline in functional status (24 participants >3 symptoms vs 8; P = .0173). There were no significant differences comparing OA by age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Older adults enrolled in PICT with more symptoms may sacrifice QOL for experimental treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, Gerontology, and Palliative Care, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, USA. Healyj@uthscsa.edu
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Healy
authors.forename: Taral
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Shuko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sanchez-Reilly
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D017321:Clinical Trials, Phase I as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018579:Patient Selection; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011788:Quality of Life; D012107:Research Design; D012189:Retrospective Studies