[The situation of elderly patients].

Elderly and old tumour patients differ very much individually and a broad range of variation is even to be observed in patients of the same age group. But these patients differ from younger patients in many respects: This concerns the process of treatment decision and the expectations of the therapy on the one hand. Relevant differences with regard to younger patients exist also because of the age-related physiological changes and frequent age-typical comorbidities which may increase the toxicity of a therapy and the surgery-associated morbidity and lethality because of a decreased functional reserve capacity. Copyright 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.