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Guidance Needed for Frail Elderly With Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer

Integration of frailty-related items into current guidelines on nonmelanoma skin cancer is limited

MONDAY, Aug. 8, 2016 (HealthDay News) — More attention should be given to frailty-related items in clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC), according to a study published online Aug. 3 in the British Journal of Dermatology.

Satish F.K. Lubeek, M.D., from the Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, Netherlands, and colleagues collected and prioritized items related to frail older adults with NMSC for integration into CPGs. Items were obtained and prioritized by a multidisciplinary working group. A systematic review was performed to assess current integration of these items in CPGs.

The researchers found that prioritization of a final 13-item list showed that limited life expectancy and treatment goals other than curation were most desired to be integrated into CPGs, and they were both included in six of 13 CPGs (46 percent). The items most often included in CPGs were attention to tumor characteristics (100 percent) and comorbidities (77 percent).

“More attention to items related to frail older adults in NMSC CPGs is broadly desired, but CPG-integration of these items is currently limited,” the authors write. “More integration might stimulate a more holistic, personalized, and patient-centered care in frail older adults.”

Two authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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