MORGANTOWN — When a patient is diagnosed with cancer, the primary focus of medical care becomes the cancer itself, with other conditions taking the back seat. However, older adults can have chronic medical problems and other physical, cognitive, and social needs that cannot be overlooked.

The new, outpatient Geriatric Oncology Clinic at the WVU Cancer Institute will serve this population with a goal of setting new standards and managing age-related factors impacting the patients’ quality of life.

As West Virginia is home to the third-oldest population in the nation and has one of the highest incident ratings for cancer in people over the age of 65, the clinic is a much-needed resource.

“Similar to the worldwide cancer burden, in our own state of West Virginia, the population of older and frailer patients with cancer is growing rapidly. This underscores the urgent need for more and stronger multidisciplinary clinical care and research on the diagnosis and treatment of geriatric cancer and survivorship care for older adults,” Ashkan Emadi, M.D., Ph.D, chair and physician-in-chief of the Department of Medical Oncology at the WVU Cancer Institute, said. “The Geriatric Oncology Clinic at the WVU Cancer Institute will be committed to providing comprehensive, state-of-the-art investigative and standard-of-care options for treating older patients with cancer across West Virginia and beyond.”

Experienced providers R. Osvaldo Navia, M.D., division chief of Geriatrics, Palliative Medicine, and Hospice, and Manar Shalak, M.D., will lead the efforts at the clinic with a goal of improving care and quality of life for these patients.

“The main purpose for the Geriatric Oncology Clinic is to become an efficient ‘bridge’ between patients, oncologists, and primary care physicians,” Dr. Navia said. “The geriatric team will evaluate patients using specific tools that measure the overall fitness for tolerating treatments, effective care of chronic medical problems, and the general goal of care.”

Functional assessments would include fall risk, sensory loss, fatigue, frailty, memory impairment, social support, nutrition, and depression/anxiety.

The clinic, which will be located at the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center, will be fully operational next month.

For more information on the WVU Cancer Institute, visit WVUMedicine/Cancer.