Summary

A Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment is recommended to detect vulnerable cancer patients for whom chemotherapy may lead to severe impairment on functionality, quality of life, or survival. Although Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment is useful for better management of older patients with unsuspected problems, little is known about the reliability of the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment to optimise the therapeutic approach in a specific patient with a malignant haemopathy. Particularly, the prognostic value of cognitive impairment in clinically fit older patients with haematological malignancies admitted to receive chemotherapy, are poorly investigated. This article investigated this question and tries to explain links between cognitive impairment and poor overall survival. Finally, this article tries to propose supportive interventions to reduce morbidity and mortality in older cancer patients with cognitive impairment.

(BELG J HEMATOL 2016;7(5):180–3)