# A Patient-Oriented Research Program in Geriatric Oncology

> **NIH NIH K24** · UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER · 2020 · $172,313

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY:
Over 60% of cancers occur in older persons, and the number of patients with cancer is expected to grow.
Geriatric assessment (GA), a validated patient-centered approach for assessing health status, can identify
older patients with cancer who are at risk of adverse outcomes. The majority of oncologists have not adopted
GA, largely because of lack of knowledge on how to utilize GA to guide communication and decision-making.
Two multicenter cluster randomized studies in the University of Rochester (UR) NCI Community Oncology
Research Program (NCORP) led by the Principal Investigator (PI) are evaluating if a GA intervention can
improve communication about age-related issues (funded by a Patient Centered Outcomes Research
Institute contract) and reduce toxicity from cancer treatment (funded by a NCI R01) through improved decision-
making. Our preliminary data illustrates that: 1) age-related concerns and symptom burden are not
addressed effectively in oncology clinical encounters; 2) community oncologists often provide chemotherapy to
frail older adults with serious consequences; 3) a significant proportion of older patients with advanced cancer
undergoing treatment and their caregivers believe the cancer will be cured; and 4) the majority of older patients
would choose to forgo cancer treatment if they knew there would be serious functional and/or cognitive
consequences. The current proposal builds on the PI's geriatric oncology program by developing new
patient-oriented research and providing opportunities for mentees in this underrepresented area. The
PI, a geriatric oncologist, and the research team including experts in communication, palliative care, caregiver
and geriatric oncology research are well positioned to complete the aims of this proposal. The overarching
aims are to: 1) develop insight into how to improve communication between older patients with cancer, their
oncologists, and their caregivers about age-related concerns and symptoms, the risks and benefits of
treatment, and prognosis through secondary analyses of data from the PI's multi-site studies and 2) develop
and implement an intervention to integrate GA into oncology care to improve communication about the risks
and benefits of chemotherapy for older patients. With support of this K24, the PI will complete specific career
development activities that will enhance her skills in communication research and for mentoring and
leadership. With regard to expected outcomes, this proposal will fill vital gaps in knowledge regarding the
mechanisms of how GA can improve communication and outcomes. This research will have a positive impact
by providing a pragmatic mechanism for incorporating GA into community oncology clinics to improve
outcomes of older adults with cancer through more effective communication. This K24 will allow the PI to
bridge the fields of geriatric oncology and communication research by bringing together an
interdisciplinary team of experts and geriatri...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9894704
- **Project number:** 5K24AG056589-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Supriya G. Mohile
- **Activity code:** K24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $172,313
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-04-01 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9894704

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9894704, A Patient-Oriented Research Program in Geriatric Oncology (5K24AG056589-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9894704. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*