A fact and problems of the anticancer chemotherapy for elderly patients.

Since the rate of elderly patients in cancer death is continuously increasing, elderly pa- tients are not special, but ordinary population in daily clinical settings. Geriatric assessment (GA) is recommended to evaluate elderly patients when they undergo anticancer chemother- apy. Geriatric 8 (G8) is an excellent screening tool to evaluate physical and mental function of elderly patients. By such screening tools, elderly patients are divided into 3 categories; "fit": standard regimen for non-elderly patients are applicable, "vulnerable": some modified regi- men should be needed since moderate dysfunction due to aging is recognized, "frail": best supportive care rather than standard therapy should be considered. Thus, individualization of anticancer therapy seems to be most important point for elderly patients.