Telemonitoring of Geriatric Cancer Patients Using Handheld Devices

Cancer is becoming a chronic disease, with the requirement of a lifelong intake of cancer-controlling drugs. While young(er) patients may cope with this, geriatric cancer patients may require a more customized and tailored follow up. Most elderly patients have multiple other diseases ("comorbidities") and, due to many other factors, may per se not tolerate or simply not follow anticancer therapies. This may not only impair quality of life (QoL), but on the long rung also the therapeutic outcome (survival). Handheld devices provide a new reporting/communication tool for patients and health care providers. TeleGraPH will assess if these devices are a suitable communication modality in a cohort of geriatric cancer patients.