The role of preoperative frailty assessment in patients affected by gynecological cancer: a narrative review

Abstract

The following article aims to highlight the importance of the assessment of frailty in patients affected by gynecological cancer and to discuss current data available on scores commonly used to predict adverse postoperative outcomes and overall survival in this group of patients. A narrative review was performed in Medline (PubMed) and Embase database until February 28, 2022. This study includes randomized and observational studies about patients undergoing non-emergent surgery for gynecological malignancies with preoperative frailty assessment. Fourteen studies, for a total of 85957 women, were included. The Modified Frailty Index (mFI) is the most commonly used tool for definition of frail patient. Results highlighted that frail patients had lower disease-free survival rates and overall survival rates than non-frail patients. Additionally, frail patients were more at risk of developing 30-day postoperative complications, non-home discharge and Intensive Care Unit admission than the other group. In gynecologic oncology, the assessment of the state of women’s frailty is fundamental to predict adverse outcomes and to customize treatment strategies. Modified Frailty Index is the most used tool to assess the frailty state of gynecologic oncologic patients. We advise that this index should be part of the patients’ standard evaluation and that it may be used in the daily practice to aid in shared decision making for tailored therapeutic strategies. In this manuscript we provide an update on the importance of the use of preoperative frailty scores to predict complications among patients treated for gynecological cancer.