The number of elderly people with cancer will increase within the next decades. Cancer will surpass cardiovascular diseases as the leading cause of death. In comparison to younger patients elderly patients with cancer are less often treated within the scope of clinical trials. Data from health care research demonstrate that the treatment of elderly patients is less often guideline-directed than that of younger patients. This will be demonstrated in more detail for patients with colorectal carcinoma and for patients with anaemia. Older people are reluctant to participate in programs for the early detection of colorectal carcinoma and its precursors. They less often receive adjuvant chemotherapy in stage III disease, despite the fact that adjuvant chemotherapy is no more toxic than in younger patients and equally effective and therefore recommended in the guidelines. Compared to younger patients, elderly patients less often receive palliative chemotherapy in stage IV disease. Anaemia has a prevalence of about 10% in people aged 65 and more; the reported values are highly variable. There is a lack of data on the grade of evaluation. Also, there are no diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines in Germany. Health services research will play an important role in assessing deficits in the diagnosis and therapy of cancer diseases in the elderly and in determining the goals for future efforts in health care and research.