Impaired geriatric 8 score is associated with worse survival after radical intensity modulated radiation therapy in elderly patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Geriatric 8 score (G8) was an independent prognostic factor for survival and toxicities in various malignancies, but it has never been tested in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). To evaluate the value of G8 in predicting survival in elderly patients with NPC. Patients with NPC aged ≥70 who received intensity-modulated radiation therapy were recruited into this study. The overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), locoregional recurrence rate (LRR), and distant metastasis rate (DMR) between the patients with G8 > 14 and G8 ≤ 14 were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared with the Log-rank test. Cox proportional hazards model was applied to perform univariate and multivariate analysis. G8 ≤ 14 had significantly reduced OS (p = .001) and PFS (p = .032) than those with G8 > 14 by log-rank test. G8 score remained an independent prognosticator for OS (HR = 0.490, 95% CI = 0.267–0.900, p = .021) and was a borderline significance towards PFS (HR = 0.639, 95% CI = 0.386–1.058, p = .082) in multivariate analysis. Grade 3–4 acute toxicities were significantly more common in patients with G8 ≤ 14 than in those with G8 > 14. G8 is useful in predicting the OS in elderly patients with NPC. Further prospective study stratified by G8 is needed to explore the value of CT in elderly patients with NPC.