INTEGERATE Study

INTEGERATE Study

The INTEGERATE study was conducted through Eastern Health and Monash University’s Eastern Health Clinical School. This study found that a comprehensive assessment by a geriatrician for older people receiving cancer treatment led to improvements in patients’ quality of life, fewer unplanned hospital admissions, and more patients completing their cancer treatment. Lead author of the study, Dr Wee-Kheng Soo, is a dual-trained geriatrician and oncologist who completed this work as part of his PhD project. The results were published in the Lancet Healthy Longevity Journal in August 2022. “The INTEGERATE study sets a bold new example for the successful design and implementation of pragmatic clinical trials with quality of life as a primary endpoint,” according to the accompanying editorial.

“INTEGERATE brings together multiple health care disciplines to help older people manage the challenges of cancer and its treatment, giving better outcomes for their quality of life and overall experience. Our study demonstrates the power of comprehensive geriatric assessment in cancer patients and reaffirms the positive work that geriatricians do daily,” said Dr Soo. Eastern Health has since implemented the Ageing Resiliency in Cancer clinics to provide comprehensive geriatric assessment to people with cancer to assist with treatment planning and provide supportive interventions.