The clinical impact of the G8 screening tool score on treatment strategy decisions and outcomes among oral squamous cell carcinoma patients aged 75 years or older in Japan

Objective Treatment strategy decisions are very difficult in elderly patients with oral squamous carcinoma (OSCC). In this study, the factors that affect treatment strategy decisions and the clinical impact of the G8 screening tool score were retrospectively investigated in elderly OSCC patients. Methods The medical records of primary OSCC patients aged 75 years or older were retrospectively reviewed, and 438 patients aged 75 years or older were included in this study. The factors that affect treatment strategy decisions and the clinical impact of the G8 screening tool score were investigated. Results Regarding treatment decisions, the elderly OSCC patients with better Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG-PS) scores and G8 scores of more than 10.5 were treated with the standard treatment with curative intent. The 5-year overall survival (OS) rates of the patients with G8 scores of <10.5 and ≥10.5 were 43.8 % and 60.3 %, respectively (p < 0.01). The 5-year self-reliant survival (SR) rates of the patients with G8 scores of <10.5 and ≥10.5 were 44.9 % and 59.3 %, respectively (p < 0.01). Multivariate analyses revealed that OS and SR were significantly correlated with poorer ECOG-PS and lower G8 scores (<10.5). Conclusions These results suggest that pre-treatment evaluations based on the ECOG-PS and G8 screening tool may aid treatment decisions for and prognostic evaluations of elderly OSCC patients.