BOPA 2020 | Looking beyond the ECOG score: the importance of considering frailty in cancer treatment

Richard Simcock, MBBS, MCRP, FRCR, Brighton and Sussex University Hospital NHS Trust, Sussex, UK, highlights the importance of understanding and evaluating frailty in older cancer patients. Although tools such as the ECOG score play a role in determining prognosis and estimating performance of cancer patients undergoing treatment, Dr Simcock believes that this score can be redundant and exclude the important aspect of frailty. Dr Simcock sheds light on the ability of tools, such as the Rockwood score and the G8 screening tool, in measuring how frailty impacts a cancer patient and consequently how it should be embraced in the treatment process. This interview was recorded via an online conference call with The Video Journal of Oncology (VJOncology).