Prof Antonio Palumbo talks about ecancer’s upcoming international meeting in Rome, March 18-20th 2010, which will address the treatment of patients over the age of 65 suffering from myeloma, lymphoma, myelodysplasia syndrome, or chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. One of the key issues will be the overtreatment of elderly patients and high level of toxicity that these patients endure as a result. Prof Palumbo discusses the importance of understanding how comorbitities affect patients' ability to tolerate treatments.