The importance of assessing the fitness of older patients with newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and classic Hodgkin lymphoma.

Several tools have been developed to provide prognostic indicators that are more accurate than chronological age alone because choosing the best treatment for older lymphoma patients is challenging. For older patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), one of these prognostic indicators is patient fitness; its definition has been validated, its assessment is recommended by international guidelines and it is currently integrated into several clinical trials. In terms of fitness, frailty is emerging as a major barrier to curative options for older patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) as well, and the preliminary data now available support geriatric assessment in this setting. This review presents and discusses the robust results on the prognostic value of assessing fitness achieved in DLBCL and the early findings of geriatric studies conducted in HL, including promising novel approaches to defining patient fitness.