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Review
. 2021 May;58(5):22.
doi: 10.3892/ijo.2021.5202. Epub 2021 Mar 24.

Real‑world challenge for clinicians treating advanced gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma (Review)

Mark A Baxter  1 , Russell D Petty  1 , Daniel Swinson  2 , Peter S Hall  3 , Shane O'Hanlon  4
Affiliations
Review

Real‑world challenge for clinicians treating advanced gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma (Review)

Mark A Baxter et al. Int J Oncol. 2021 May.

Abstract

Gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma (GOA) is a disease of older people. Incidence is rising in the developed world and the majority of patients present with advanced disease. Based on clinical trial data, systemic chemotherapy in the advanced setting is associated with improvements in quality of life and survival. However, there is a recognised mismatch between trial populations and the patients encountered in clinical practice in terms of age, comorbidity and fitness. Appropriate patient selection is essential to safely deliver effective treatment. In this narrative review, we discuss the challenges faced by clinicians when assessing real‑world patients with advanced GOA for systemic therapy. We also highlight the importance of frailty screening and the current available evidence we can use to guide our management.

Keywords: advanced gastroesophageal cancer; frailty; geriatric oncology; real‑world; reduced performance status.

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Conflict of interest statement

MAB received funding from Servier and BMS to attend meetings. RDP has undertaken speaking, consulting and advisory roles for Eli Lilly, BMS, Pfizer, Sanofi and Servier, and received research funding (not related to the work in this manuscript) from Astra Zeneca, Roche, MSD, Merck serrano, Eli Lilly, Five Prime Therapeutics, Clovis, Boston Biomedical, and Janssen. PSH, DS and SOH have no competing interests to declare.

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