Enrique Soto: Supportive care needs among older adults with cancer in Mexico

Enrique Soto recently shared on X:

“If you are looking for a nice Sunday read take a look at our manuscript on supportive care needs among older adults with cancer in Mexico.

Published in Journal of Geriatric Oncology and free to read now.

In this study, led by Ana Cristina Torres, we compared the supportive care needs of older and younger individuals included in the ‘Te Acompañamos’ patient navigation cohort at National Institute of Medical Science and Nutrition.

Older patients of geriatric oncology had more supportive care needs than their younger counterparts at baseline, before any interventions were undertaken, including high risk of malnutrition.

Older patients had a lower education level and were less likely to live alone.

Interestingly, a factor which was strongly associated with malnutrition at baseline was a lower educational level, highlighting the influence of social factors on health status!!

At 3-months follow-up, the presence of malnutrition was no longer significantly higher in older adults (maybe due to interventions?) but they were more likely to have fatigue.

These results can provide guidance for those trying to implement a geriatric oncology palliative care team, by highlighting those needs that are more common among older patients!“

Source: Enrique Soto/X

Enrique Soto Perez de Celis is a geriatric oncologist working at the National Institute of Medical Science and Nutrition in Mexico City, where he leads the Cancer Care in the Elderly Clinic, the first multidisciplinary Geriatric Oncology clinic in Mexico. He is a former recipient of a Young Investigator Award, a Long Term International Fellowship, and a Career Development Award from the Conquer Cancer Foundation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).