The Clinical Frailty Scale as useful tool in patients with brain metastases

• Published in: Journal of neuro-oncology 2022-05, Vol.158 (1), p.51-57
• Main Authors: Kerschbaumer, Johannes, Krigers, Aleksandrs, Demetz, Matthias, Pinggera, Daniel, Klingenschmid, Julia, Pichler, Nadine, Thomé, Claudius, Freyschlag, Christian F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Brain cancer; Brain Neoplasms - surgery; Frailty; Frailty - diagnosis; Humans; Karnofsky Performance Status; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metastases; Metastasis; Neurology; Oncology; Patients; Retrospective Studies
• ISSN: 0167-594X; 1573-7373
• DOI: 10.1007/s11060-022-04008-5

Purpose The Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) evaluates patients’ level of frailty on a scale from 1 to 9 and is commonly used in geriatric medicine, intensive care and orthopedics. The aim of our study was to reveal whether the CFS allows a reliable prediction of overall survival (OS) in patients after surgical treatment of brain metastases (BM) compared to the Karnofsky Performance Score (KPS). Methods Patients operated for BM were included. CFS and KPS were retrospectively assessed pre- and postoperatively and at follow-up 3–6 months after resection. Results 205 patients with a follow-up of 22.8 months (95% CI 18.4–27.1) were evaluated. CFS showed a median of 3 (“managing well”; IqR 2–4) at all 3 assessment-points. Median KPS was 80 preoperatively (IqR 80–90) and 90 postoperatively (IqR 80–100) as well as at follow-up after 3–6 months. CFS correlated with KPS both preoperatively (r = − 0.92; p