Brachytherapy in the elderly

A rapidly and constantly increasing aged population in the western countrie s poses a wide range of specific problems to oncologists. A different way t o face medical issues should be sought for older patients with cancer, look ing at the characteristics that are peculiar to the elderly from different points of view. Brachytherapy is an effective form of radiotherapy which, f or its specific characteristics. may be a valid alternative to more complex modalities of treatment, thus allowing a better sparing of normal tissues and structures yet achieving a similar tumor control rate. This paper revie ws the literature on the subject of cancer treatment in the elderly, focusi ng on radiotherapy and brachytherapy, to evaluate the current attitude towa rd this problem in the medical community and to see if it is possible to id entify a patient population that will benefit from this technique. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.