General algorithm for the treatment of older patients with AML. This algorithm serves as a global guideline and should not be applied dogmatically but with thoughtful consideration of the individual circumstances. Patients eligible for intensive treatment are considered for remission-induction chemotherapy, after which, depending on the response and the risk profile of the leukemia, an allogeneic HSCT as consolidation therapy can be considered. For patients with an unfavorable-risk AML, intensive chemotherapy is mainly considered when a donor for an allogeneic HSCT is available and a subsequent allogeneic HSCT can be foreseen. Otherwise, these unfavorable-risk patients and patients ineligible for intensive chemotherapy will more likely be considered for less-intensive treatment approaches, or for a clinical trial with an interesting investigational agent. A minority of these patients may eventually still proceed to an allogeneic HSCT in case they would show an exceptionally good response to treatment and their general performance status at that point appears to show sufficient improvement so that an allogeneic HSCT is considered feasible. For reasons discussed in the text, we recommend including patients in a clinical trial whenever possible. Medical criteria and dilemmas regarding patient eligibility for intensive chemotherapy are also discussed in the manuscript.