Older Patients With Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer or Colon Cancer

The Vulnerable Elders Survey Study of Older Cancer Patients

RATIONALE: Learning about changes over time in older patients' ability to function after receiving chemotherapy for breast or colon cancer may help doctors learn about the long-term effects of treatment and plan the best treatment.

PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying older patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer or colon cancer.

OBJECTIVES:

• Determine the correlation between the Vulnerable Elders Survey (VES-13) and the battery of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment tools among breast and colon cancer patients, 65 years and older, in an outpatient setting.
• Assess and compare the abilities of the VES-13 and the battery of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment tools to predict chemotherapy adherence among these patients.
• Examine the validity of the VES-13 screening tool to identify increased risk of death from all causes at one year after initial VES-13 screening in these patients.
• Examine the validity of the VES-13 screening tool to identify increased risk of functional decline at one year after initial VES-13 screening in these patients.

OUTLINE: Patients complete the Vulnerable Elders Survey (VES-13) and a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment at baseline and 12 months later. Variables collected include sociodemographics; cognitive, nutritional, psychosocial, and emotional status; tumor characteristics; therapy; and mortality.

Patients are followed for 1 year for chemotherapy adherence and survival.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Histologically confirmed breast or colon cancer

  • Newly diagnosed disease
  • Any stage disease

• Undergoing treatment at the Ireland Cancer Center, University Hospitals Case Medical Center Site

• Scheduled to start a new chemotherapy regimen (objective II only)

• Not concurrently enrolled in a GEM trial (objectives II, III, and IV)

• Hormone receptor status not specified

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Understands English
• Menopausal status not specified

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• See Diseases Characteristics