Radiotherapy in Elderly Prostate Cancer Patients

Radiotherapy in elderly cancer patient is not a question of “age,” but draws the question in that population of the cost/benefit ratio estimation in terms of clinical benefit (overall survival, event-free survival, and quality of life) versus unnecessary treatment-related toxicities and societal costs. In that setting, decision making has to take into account, on the one hand, the aggressiveness of the prostate cancer (i.e., using the D’Amico classification) and, on the other hand, the life expectancy of each individual patient mainly related to the severity of his associated comorbid conditions. Some general recommendations have been proposed by the International Society of Geriatric Oncology and are applicable for radiotherapy decision in elderly patient.