[Therapy in elderly patients]

The treatment of elderly patients with thoracic tumours poses a huge challenge. Apart from a decreased functional reserve, many patients already suffer from several,partially relevant comorbidities on the date of the initial diagnosis. In the past, this often resulted in the fact that elderly patients were underrepresented in clinical studies but were often undertreated in clinical routine. Retrospective sub-group analyses and studies especially performed in elderly patients, however, show that elderly patients with thoracic tumours, too, may benefit from surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy.