Abstract

Cancer is an aging-related disease. According to the data of the Estonian Cancer Registry (1980–2012), the incidence of solid tumours in the elderly (≥70years) has been significantly increased from 1044 to 2057 cases per 10,0000. Approximately half (48%) of all new cancer cases are diagnosed in the elderly population and cancer is more frequently found in men than in older women. Nowadays, people can expect to live longer. Therefore, it is also important to use curative treatment strategies and to maintain high quality of life in the elderly. Additionally, there is an urgent need to increase age levels in screening programmes in order to facilitate prevention and early detection of solid tumours improving thereby the efficacy of cancer treatment and survival rates in this population of cancer patients.