The influence of age and comorbidity on receiving radiotherapy as part of primary treatment for cancer in South Netherlands, 1995 to 2002.

Background: The objective of this study was to study the influence of age and comorbidity on receiving radiotherapy (RT) in primary treatment of cancer.

Methods: In a population-based setting, the authors calculated the proportion of irradiated patients within 6 months after they received a diagnosis of lung, rectal, breast, or prostate cancer or non-Hodgkin lymphoma (n = 33,369 patients) according to age and comorbidity between 1995 and 2002. Logistic regression analysis was used to adjust for age, comorbidity, gender, and stage.