Anthropometric Parameters in Hospitalized Elderly Patients with Cancer

The prevalence of malnutrition in hospitalized elderly patients >70 years is estimated to be between 50% and 70% and is considered as one of the criteria of frailty in this population. On the other hand, malnutrition is common in patients with advanced cancer and is a poor prognostic factor; as such it should be detected as soon as possible. Therefore, the assessment of nutritional status is an essential element of therapeutic strategy in geriatric oncology and includes the determination of anthropometric parameters, biological data and measure of food intake. The most widely used anthropometrics measures in cancer are body mass index (BMI) and weight loss, with a prevalence of malnutrition varying between 20% and 70%, depending on threshold values reported (BMI<20 or 21, weight loss <5 or 10%). In elderly patients as in other adults, the impairment of these parameters is mainly determined by the localization of the tumor and the stage of the disease, with a higher prevalence of malnutrition occurring in digestive tract tumors and in advanced cancers. Aging per se does not represent a risk factor for malnutrition. However, elderly patients are at high risk of altering their nutritional status in terms of muscular mass as well as fat mass during the course of hospitalization. This calls for a specific nutritional intervention in geriatric oncology.