A Comparative Study of Radical Radiotherapy in Very Elderly and Non-Very Elderly Patients With Malignant Tumour Using...

This study aimed to compare the outcomes and complications following radical radiotherapy between very elderly patients aged ≥ 90 years and non-very elderly patients using pairwise matching analysis.

Data of patients who underwent radical radiotherapy at our hospital between January 2013 and March 2024 and those who were aged ≥ 90 years at the start of radical radiotherapy were extracted. Data of control patients were extracted by pairwise matching from patients aged < 90 years who underwent radical radiotherapy during the same period. Pairwise matching was performed using the following criteria: (i) cancer type, (ii) TNM classification, (iii) histological type, (iv) concurrent chemotherapy, (v) prescribed biological effective dose, (vi) performance status, (vii) sex and (viii) ability to walk. The local control (LC), cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) rates were calculated from the date of completion of radiotherapy.

Forty patients from each group were analysed. There were no significant differences in LC, CSS or OS rates between the two groups. The completion rate of radiotherapy and the incidence rate of adverse events were not significantly different between the two groups.

In this study, there was no difference in the outcomes of radiotherapy between very elderly and non-very elderly patients. Our findings may aid clinicians in the treatment of nonagenarian patients.