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The National Cancer Institute award $3 million to Supriya Mohile, M.D., for a collaborative, five-year research project stemming from the Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot initiative.

Mohile's team at the Wilmot Cancer Institute and University of Rochester Medical Center will evaluate whether adverse symptoms reported by older patients with advanced cancer on a clinical trial are associated with discontinuing therapy, hospitalizations, early death, as well as the patient's functional ability and quality of life. The study is important because 60 percent of all cancers and 70 percent of cancer deaths occur in older adults. In addition, a growing population of older patients remains underrepresented in research that sets standards of care for cancer -- leading to disparities in health outcomes.

Nearly one in five older patients with advanced cancer have financial problems that may cause them to delay treatment to cover food and housing costs, which leads to stress and poor quality of life, according to new Wilmot Cancer Institute research.

The "financial toxicity" study was conducted at several cancer clinics across the country, involving 542 patients ages 70 to 96, said senior author Supriya Mohile, M.D., M.S., a geriatric oncology expert and the Philip and Marilyn Wehrheim Professor at Wilmot.

The American Society of Oncology (ASCO) is highlighting the abstract at its annual Quality Care Symposium on Sept. 28 and 29. The research has not yet been published by a peer-reviewed journal.

The next step is to develop standards for helping older cancer patients solve financial difficulties. A lot of variability exists in clinics across the U.S., requiring the sharing of best practices, Mohile said.

Supriya G. Mohile, M.D., M.S., an oncologist at the Wilmot Cancer Institute and trailblazer in the growing field of geriatric oncology, has been named the 2018 winner of the B.J. Kennedy Award by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). She will deliver the B.J. Kennedy Lecture on June 4 at ASCO's annual meeting in Chicago.

The Kennedy Award recognizes one of ASCO's 40,000 members for outstanding contributions to research, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer in the elderly.

Mohile plans to talk about the need for a transformational shift in geriatric oncology, by using data to improve communication between doctor and patient. Such data includes assessments of an older patient's cognition/memory and other health issues like heart disease or diabetes, and nutrition, for example, to aid in making decisions about of the risks and benefits of cancer treatment, she said.

"Cancer is a disease of aging and Americans are living longer," Mohile said. "I'm proud of the progress we've made in our research, and grateful for the opportunity to seek practical interventions to improve the quality of life of older adults. I'm also honored to be part of a team of national experts that is so committed to this issue. We will continue to educate thought-leaders in oncology about the need for more tools for treating older patients."