"OMG, how long is this going to take?".

As the article in this issue by Latta and colleagues argues, the decision to treat very old elders for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) should ideally be made following a comprehensive functional assessment (CFA). However, because of the time a CFA will take on a busy day, the physician usually dreads the visit at which one is to be performed—despite the fact that a better clinical decision will result. Meanwhile, the patient is dreading the discussion for different reasons—because the need to undertake a treatment for cancer raises frightening questions, such as “can I still stay in my apartment?” or “is it the nursing home for me now?” The issue becomes how to conduct the visit in a reasonable time frame, while still being sensitive to the patient's fears and concerns. It is a tall order, but getting it right is critical in geriatric oncology.