Frailty Index and Geriatric Assessment in Predicting Toxicity to Front-Line Chemotherapy in Treating Patients With Stage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

This phase II trial is studying how well a frailty index and geriatric assessment works in predicting toxicity to front-line chemotherapy in treating patients with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer. A frailty index and geriatric assessment prior to treatment may help identify a better treatment regimen

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: I. To determine the correlation of the data from the frailty index and geriatric assessment tool with the level of toxicity encountered in the first two cycles of therapy. OUTLINE: Patients complete a frailty index and geriatric assessment prior to beginning chemotherapy. Patients receive standard-of-care chemotherapy comprising carboplatin intravenously (IV) and paclitaxel IV on day 1. Treatment repeats every 21 days for up to 2 courses.