Should age be a criterion for intensive care unit admission in cancer patients?—Still an issue of uncertainty

As life expectancy is rising globally and diagnostic and treatment modalities for cancer are improving, an increasing number of elderly patients with malignancies are requiring admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), either for cancer-related complications or for treatment-associated side effects. However limited ICU bed availability, concerns about inappropriate use of limited resources and uncertainties regarding the outcome, make ICU admission decisions for elderly critically ill cancer patients a challenging issue.