BACKGROUND: Many elderly @entity1 with @entity5 experience increased @entity5 -related morbidity and mortality compared with younger @entity1 . In soft tissue @entity242 , adjuvant radiotherapy is an integral part of definitive therapy for limb preservation. The authors of this report hypothesized that age-related disparities exist in the use of radiation. METHODS: Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data were used to conduct a retrospective cohort study among @entity1 aged >=  25 years who were diagnosed from 1998 to 2004 with nonmetastatic, biopsy-proven, high-grade soft tissue @entity242 of the extremities and underwent a limb-sparing procedure. @entity1 were stratified according to age (ages < 50 years, 50-70 years, and > 70 years). Logistic regression was used to determine the association between age and the receipt of radiotherapy adjusting for histology, @entity5 location, @entity5 size, surgery, sex, race, and marital status. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to compare disease-specific and all-cause mortality. RESULTS: Among 1354 eligible @entity1 ; 37.1% were aged > 70 years, 44.3% were @entity1 , and 84.4% were Caucasian. Although 73.8% of the cohort received radiotherapy, receipt decreased from 78.2% among @entity1 aged < 50 years to 69.6% among @entity1 aged >70 years (test for trend; P = .006). After adjusting for demographic and @entity5 factors, older @entity1 remained less likely to receive radiotherapy (odds ratio, 0.66; 95% confidence interval, 0.47-0.92) and more likely to experience disease-specific @entity204 (hazard ratio, 2.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.4-4.1) compared with the youngest group. CONCLUSIONS: Older adults appeared to be less likely to receive definitive therapy for soft tissue @entity242 of the extremities. In the absence of clinical trials and treatment guidelines tailored to this population, under treatment may disadvantage elderly @entity1 , who have increased @entity5 -related morbidity and mortality.

Age-related disparities in the use of radiotherapy for treatment of localized soft tissue XXXX .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['women', 'Patients', 'patients'] @entity204 :: ('MESH:D003643', 'Disease') :: ['death'] @entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['tumor', 'cancer'] @entity242 :: ('MESH:D012509', 'Disease') :: ['sarcoma']
@entity242 :: (MESH:D012509,Disease) :: ['sarcoma']
