[Elderly patients and radiotherapy: A short review]

Bull Cancer. 2015 Jun;102(6):539-49. doi: 10.1016/j.bulcan.2015.03.001. Epub 2015 Mar 31.
[Article in French]

Abstract

The ageing of French population imposes to radiotherapists the challenge to treat older patients and to adjust their treatment. Unthinkable 30 years ago, radiation therapy concerns nowadays patients aged more than 90 years old. Oncogeriatric scales have been improved those last years without necessarily making sure that the right treatment is given to the right patient: if oncogeriatric scales use influences the final therapeutic decision, it does not define new target volumes, new doses, or new fractionation protocols. Except for some organs, there is not, for the moment, any consensus concerning geriatric population adapted treatments. This makes any therapeutic decision difficult. The present review has for objective to realise a report of the studies about favorable and unfavorable effects of radiation therapy amongst aged (>70 years old) or very aged (>90years old) population.

Keywords: Cancer; Comorbidities; Comorbidités; Effectiveness; Efficacité; Elderly; Radiotherapy; Radiothérapie; Sujet âgé; Tolerance; Tolérance.

Publication types

  • English Abstract
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • France
  • Health Transition*
  • Humans
  • Neoplasms / classification
  • Neoplasms / radiotherapy*
  • Patient Selection
  • Radiation Tolerance
  • Radiotherapy / adverse effects