Francolini Giulio

1 Introduction In recent years, there has seen remarkable progress in cancer treatment and development. However, cancer remains a global burden. In 2020, more than 18 million cancer cases were diagnosed worldwide (1). Radiotherapy is one of the most common and important cancer treatment modalities. It has been estimated that approximately 50% of all cancer patients receive radiotherapy during their course of illness (2).

Introduction Breast cancer (BC) is one of the commonest cancers in the United States, which is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women. The incidence rate of BC has increased in women aged 70 years or older in recent years (1). For most early-stage BC patients, the standard treatment strategy is the performance of breast-conserving surgery (BCS) followed by adjuvant whole breast radiotherapy (RT) and adjuvant endocrine therapy (ET) based on hormone receptor status (2).

1Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Freiburg - Medical Center, Freiburg, Germany 2German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) Partner Site Freiburg, German Cancer Research Center (dkfz), Heidelberg, Germany Objectives: The number of elderly head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients is increasing, and clinical trials defining the standard of care either excluded or underrepresented elderly patients.