Determination and Management of Risks for Practices and Procedures in the Elderly (DRIPP): the impact of a comprehensive geriatric evaluation in elderly with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) treatment in older patients is challenging. The Determination and Management of Risks for Practices and Procedures in the Elderly (DRIPP) is a multidimensional evaluation program that involves patients undergoing oncological treatments. We aimed to evaluate the overall survival and progression-free survival (PFS) of patients evaluated and those not evaluated by the DRIPP. Retrospective cohort study, patients > 65 years with DLBCL were included. They were divided into 3 groups: patients with a diagnosis prior to the DRIPP implementation (pre-DRIPP), patients with the DRIPP (DRIPP) and patients with a diagnosis after the DRIPP implementation, but who did not undergo the evaluation (non-DRIPP). A total of 125 patients were analyzed. Fourteen (11%) patients in the pre-DRIPP group, 74 (59%) in the DRIPP group, and 37 (30%) in the non-DRIPP group. In 43 (58%) patients of the DRIPP group, some drug dose adjustments were made vs. 19 (15%) in the non-DRIPP ( p = 0.03). There were no significant differences in terms of discontinuation of treatment or hematological toxicity between groups. The OS and PFS in one year was 64% (95%CI 34–83) and 50% (95%CI 23–72) for the pre-DRIPP group, 82% (95%CI 71–89) and 72% (95%CI 60–81) for the DRIPP group, 58% (95% CI 41–72) and 56% (95% CI 38–70) for the non-DRIPP group, ( p = 0.08). The analysis was adjusted for probable confounders and no differences were found. This is the first study to evaluate the DRIPP as a decision-making tool in patients with lymphoma and showed a trend towards improvement in the OS in evaluated patients.