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Background Polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use are common problems in older adults. Safe prescription practices are a necessity. The tools employed for the identification of PIM sometimes do not concur with each other. Methods A retrospective analysis of patients ≥60 years who visited the Geriatric Oncology Clinic of the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India from 2018 to 2021 was performed. Beer's‐2015, STOPP/START criteria v2, PRISCUS‐2010, Fit fOR The Aged (FORTA)‐2018, and the EU(7)‐PIM list‐2015 were the tools used to assess PIM. Every patient was assigned a standardized PIM value (SPV) for each scale, which represented the ratio of the number of PIMs identified by a given scale to the total number of medications taken. The median SPV of all five tools was considered the reference standard for each patient. Bland–Altman plots were utilized to determine agreement between each scale and the reference. Association between baseline variables and PIM use was determined using multiple logistic regression analysis. Results Of the 467 patients included in this analysis, there were 372 (79.66%) males and 95 (20.34%) females with an average age of 70 ± 5.91 years. The EU(7)‐PIM list was found to have the highest level of agreement given by a bias estimate of 0.010, the lowest compared to any other scale. The 95% CI of the bias was in the narrow range of −0.001 to 0.022, demonstrating the precision of the estimate. In comparison, the bias (95%) CI of Beer's criteria, STOPP/START criteria, PRISCUS list, and FORTA list were −0.039 (−0.053 to −0.025), 0.076 (0.060 to 0.092), 0.035 (0.021 to 0.049), and −0.148 (−0.165 to −0.130), respectively. Patients on polypharmacy had significantly higher PIM use compared to those without (OR = 1.47 (1.33–1.63), p = <0.001). Conclusions The EU(7)‐PIM list was found to have the least bias and hence can be considered the most reliable among all other tools studied.

Geriatric oncology in India is relatively new. The number of older persons with cancer is increasing exponentially; at our institution, 34% of patients registered are 60 years and over. Apart from the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, there are currently no other Indian centers that have a dedicated geriatric oncology unit. Geriatric assessments (GAs) are done sporadically, and older patients with cancer are usually assessed and treated based on clinical judgement. Challenges to increasing the uptake of GA include a lack of training/time/interest or knowledge of the importance of the GA. Other challenges include a lack of trained personnel with expertise in geriatric oncology, and a paucity of research studies that seek to advance the outcomes in older Indian patients with cancer. We anticipate that over the next 10 years, along with the inevitable increase in the number of older persons with cancer in India, there will be a commensurate increase in the number of skilled personnel to care for them. Key goals for the future include increased research output, increased number of dedicated geriatric oncology units across the country, India-specific geriatric oncology guidelines, geriatric oncology training programs, and a focus on collaborative work across India and with global partners. In this narrative review, we provide a broad overview of the status of geriatric oncology in India, along with a description of the work done at our center. We hope to spark interest and provide inspiration to readers to consider developing geriatric oncology services in other settings.

To evaluate the prognostic impact of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and lymphocyte-monocyte ratio (LMR) on overall survival (OS) among Indian older patients with cancer. This observational study was conducted in the geriatric oncology clinic of Tata Memorial Hospital (India). We included all patients who underwent a geriatric assessment (GA) and had a complete blood count available for analysis. The NLR was dichotomized at 3.5, PLR and LMR at the median. Our primary study outcome was OS. Between June 2018 and November 2021, 786 patients were enrolled (median age: 69 years). The most common primary tumour was lung (308, 39.5%), followed by gastrointestinal (261, 33.5%). Metastatic disease was present in 54.3% of patients. Univariate analysis revealed that patients with NLR >3.5 had shorter OS (9.1 months) than NLR <3.5 (15.7 months) (HR: 1.56). Similarly, patients with PLR >183.5 had reduced OS (9.3 months) compared to PLR <183.5 (16.6 months) (HR: 1.56). Conversely, patients with LMR >3.1 showed better OS (14.2) compared to LMR <3.1 (9.8 months) (HR: 0.74). After adjusting for age, performance status, primary tumour, metastatic status and GA-derived factors (function, nutrition and cognition), NLR (HR: 1.25, 95%CI: 1.03-1.52), PLR (HR: 1.34, 95%CI: 1.11-1.63) and LMR (HR: 0.79, 95%CI: 0.65-0.95) were associated with OS. In our study of older cancer patients, we identified three key inflammatory markers (NLR >3.5, PLR >183.5, LMR <3.1) as strong predictors of poor OS. These markers remain predictive even after accounting for traditional prognostic factors and GA-derived scales.

The global demographic and epidemiological transition have led to a rapidly increasing burden of cancer, particularly among older adults. There are scant data on the prevalence and demographic pattern of cancer in older Indian persons. This was a multicentric observational study conducted between January 2019 and December 2020. Data were retrieved from existing electronic databases to gather information on two key variables: the total number of patients registered with oncologists and the number of patients aged 60 years and above. The primary objective was to determine the percentage of older adults among patients with cancer served by these hospitals. Secondary objectives included understanding the prevalence of different types of cancer in the older population, and the sex- and geographic distribution of cancer in older Indian patients. We included 272,488 patients with cancer from 17 institutes across India. Among them, 97,962 individuals (36 %) were aged 60 years and above. The proportion of older adults varied between 20.6 % and 53.6 % across the participating institutes. The median age of the older patients with cancer was 67 (interquartile range, 63–72) years. Of the 54,281 patients for whom the details regarding sex were available, 32,243 (59.4 %) were male. Of the 56,903 older patients, head and neck malignancies were the most prevalent, accounting for 11,158 cases (19.6 %), followed by breast cancer (6260 cases, 11 %), genitourinary cancers (6242 cases, 10.9 %), lung cancers (6082 cases, 10.7 %), hepatopancreaticobiliary (6074, 10.7 %), and hematological malignancies (5226 cases, 9.2 %). Over one-third of Indian patients with cancer are aged 60 years and above, with a male predominance. Head and neck, breast, and genitourinary cancers are the most prevalent in this age group. Characterizing the burden of cancer in older adults is crucial to enable tailored interventions and additional research to improve the care and support for this vulnerable population. [Display omitted] •Of 2,72,488 patients with cancer from 17 Indian institutes, 97962 (36 %) were >/= 60 years.•Male:female ratio was 1.46:1.•Top 5 cancers were head-and-neck (19.6 %), breast (11 %), genitourinary (11 %), lung (11 %), and hepatopancreaticobiliary (11 %).

The objective of this study is to assess the attitude of youngsters towards alcohol consumption. A survey was performed in colleges under NITTE University. Students present at the time of visit were covered. A questionnaire was prepared comprising of a set of 14 questions covering the 3 main objectives of the survey. As per our survey of the 1,150 students, 26.4% (304) students consume alcohol. Of these who consume alcohol, 188 (61.84%) students felt it was safe to drink. Also a majority of 219 students (72.03%) did not want to stop their drinking habits and 225 (74.01%) students haven't tried quitting. Surprisingly, a good 1,050 (91.30%) out of 1,150 students responded that they were aware of the harmful effects of alcohol consumption. The authors have concluded that the students are well informed and they know the ill effects of alcohol consumption even though, most of them consider it as a part of life style.