Abstract
BACKGROUND: One of the major challenges in geriatric oncology is to estimate the risk-benefit balance of any therapeutic proposal for each patient and frailty is one of the key components of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA)and can also be assessed using stand-alone screening tools that predicts functional decline, treatment-related complications and mortality. This study aimed to provide an overview of the existing literature on the concept of multidimensional frailty in older adults with cancer, to clarify the dimensions included in multidimensional frailty, and the components of frailty under each dimension. METHODS: We followed the PRISMA guidelines and Arksey and O’Malley’s framework for scoping reviews, and the research question was developed according to the participants-concept-context (PCC) framework. We searched for literature related to multidimensional frailty concepts in the field of geriatric oncology published in multiple databases from database inception to December 2024 and used a data extraction form to extract and analyze the data RESULTS: The final scoping review included 25 studies, which were pooled to find that multidimensional frailty was a syndrome that centred on physical dimension, but also encompassing psychological, social, cognitive and oral dimensions. To better characterise multidimensional frailty, we summarised the components specific to frailty under each dimension. CONCLUSION: Our study provides a systematic overview of the concepts, dimensions, and components of multidimensional frailty in the field of geriatric oncology, which may contribute to the construction of an effective frailty assessment tool with a minimum number of dimensions to predict serious adverse events for older adults with cancer, as well as being important for the prevention and management of frailty, and for oncological rehabilitation. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: not applicable. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-025-06568-3.