Head and neck oncology in older patients

Demographic changes are resulting in an ever-increasing proportion of older patients. This is also leading to a noticeable increase in the number of cancer diagnoses in this age group. How should these patients be treated? Numerical age cannot represent the basis for decision-making; in contrast, treatment recommendations should be based on an adequate assessment that includes the individual life situation as well as the treatment goals of older and elderly patients, which may differ significantly from those of younger patients or the treating physician. Guideline-conform treatment should be aimed for, whereby individual decisions regarding surgical interventions, adjuvant, or palliative systemic therapies should be made after provision of detailed information and joint decision-making together with an experienced specialist.