Cancer data quality and harmonization in Europe: the experience of the BENCHISTA Project – international benchmarking of childhood cancer survival by stage

Introduction: Variation in stage at diagnosis of childhood cancers (CC) may explain differences in survival rates observed across geographical regions. The BENCHISTA project aims to understand these differences and to encourage the application of the Toronto Staging Guidelines (TG) by Population-Based Cancer Registries (PBCRs) to the most common solid paediatric cancers. Methods: PBCRs within and outside Europe were invited to participate and identify all cases of Neuroblastoma, Wilms Tumour, Medulloblastoma, Ewing Sarcoma, Rhabdomyosarcoma and Osteosarcoma diagnosed in a consecutive three-year period (2014-2017) and apply TG at diagnosis. Other non-stage prognostic factors, treatment, progression/recurrence, and cause of death information were collected as optional variables. A minimum of three-year follow-up was required. To standardise TG application by PBCRs, on-line workshops led by six tumour-specific clinical experts were held. To understand the role of data availability and quality, a survey focused on data collection/sharing processes and a quality assurance exercise were generated. To support data harmonization and query resolution a dedicated email and a question-and-answers bank were created. Results: 67 PBCRs from 28 countries participated and provided a maximally de-personalized, patient-level dataset. For 26 PBCRs, data format and ethical approval obtained by the two sponsoring institutions (UCL and INT) was sufficient for data sharing. 41 participating PBCRs required a Data Transfer Agreement (DTA) to comply with data protection regulations. Due to heterogeneity found in legal aspects, 18 months were spent on finalizing the DTA. The data collection survey was answered by 68 respondents from 63 PBCRs; 44% of them confirmed the ability to re-consult a clinician in cases where stage ascertainment was difficult/uncertain. Of the total participating PBCRs, 75% completed the staging quality assurance exercise, with a median correct answer proportion of 92% [range: 70% (rhabdomyosarcoma) to 100% (Wilms tumour)]. Conclusion: Differences in interpretation and processes required to harmonize general data protection regulations across countries were encountered causing delays in data transfer. Despite challenges, the BENCHISTA Project has established a large collaboration between PBCRs and clinicians to collect detailed and standardised TG at a population-level enhancing the understanding of the reasons for variation in overall survival rates for CC, stimulate research and improve national/regional child health plans

Cancer data quality and harmonization in Europe: the experience of the BENCHISTA Project – international benchmarking of childhood cancer survival by stage

IntroductionVariation in stage at diagnosis of childhood cancers (CC) may explain differences in survival rates observed across geographical regions. The BENCHISTA project aims to understand these differences and to encourage the application of the Toronto Staging Guidelines (TG) by Population-Based Cancer Registries (PBCRs) to the most common solid paediatric cancers.MethodsPBCRs within and outside Europe were invited to participate and identify all cases of Neuroblastoma, Wilms Tumour, Medulloblastoma, Ewing Sarcoma, Rhabdomyosarcoma and Osteosarcoma diagnosed in a consecutive three-year period (2014-2017) and apply TG at diagnosis. Other non-stage prognostic factors, treatment, progression/recurrence, and cause of death information were collected as optional variables. A minimum of three-year follow-up was required. To standardise TG application by PBCRs, on-line workshops led by six tumour-specific clinical experts were held. To understand the role of data availability and quality, a survey focused on data collection/sharing processes and a quality assurance exercise were generated. To support data harmonization and query resolution a dedicated email and a question-and-answers bank were created.Results67 PBCRs from 28 countries participated and provided a maximally de-personalized, patient-level dataset. For 26 PBCRs, data format and ethical approval obtained by the two sponsoring institutions (UCL and INT) was sufficient for data sharing. 41 participating PBCRs required a Data Transfer Agreement (DTA) to comply with data protection regulations. Due to heterogeneity found in legal aspects, 18 months were spent on finalizing the DTA. The data collection survey was answered by 68 respondents from 63 PBCRs; 44% of them confirmed the ability to re-consult a clinician in cases where stage ascertainment was difficult/uncertain. Of the total participating PBCRs, 75% completed the staging quality assurance exercise, with a median correct answer proportion of 92% [range: 70% (rhabdomyosarcoma) to 100% (Wilms tumour)].ConclusionDifferences in interpretation and processes required to harmonize general data protection regulations across countries were encountered causing delays in data transfer. Despite challenges, the BENCHISTA Project has established a large collaboration between PBCRs and clinicians to collect detailed and standardised TG at a population-level enhancing the understanding of the reasons for variation in overall survival rates for CC, stimulate research and improve national/regional child health plans

Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities(.)(1,2) This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity(3-6). Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017-and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions-was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing-and in some countries reversal-of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories.Peer reviewe

Comprehensive evaluation of context dependence of the prognostic impact of MYCN amplification in neuroblastoma: A report from the International Neuroblastoma Risk Group (INRG) project.

BACKGROUND:MYCN amplification (MYCN-A) is an established adverse prognostic factor in neuroblastoma. The extent to which the prognostic impact of MYCN-A depends on other factors has not been fully characterized. PATIENTS AND METHODS:Using the International Neuroblastoma Risk Group database, we constructed Cox models of overall survival (OS) to obtain hazard ratios of the effect of MYCN-A within subgroups defined by other prognostic factors. Cox models assessed the degree to which the prognostic impact of MYCN-A was modulated by each other covariate. We used absolute hazard ratio (HR) differences to construct classification trees to identify subgroups with greatest differential prognostic effect of MYCN-A. RESULTS:In a cohort of 6223 patients with known MYCN status, the OS hazard ratio associated with MYCN-A was 6.3 (95% confidence interval 5.7-7.0, P < .001). Age at diagnosis conferred the largest HR absolute difference for MYCN-A between subgroups (HR absolute difference 16.6; HRs for MYCN-A of 19.6 for <18 months, 3.0 for ≥18 months). MYCN-A remained significantly prognostic of OS after controlling for other factors, abrogating their prognostic strength. Patients whose outcome was most impacted by MYCN status were those who were <18 months, had high mitosis karrhyohexis index (MKI) and low ferritin. CONCLUSION:The prognostic strength of MYCN-A varies depending on which patient subgroup defined by other neuroblastoma risk factors is examined, with greatest strength in patients with otherwise favorable features. MYCN-A has little effect within some subgroups, aiding clinical decision-making if MYCN status cannot be assessed. Subgroups where MYCN-A has large effect may be prioritized for agents targeting Myc family proteins

Comprehensive evaluation of context dependence of the prognostic impact of MYCN amplification in neuroblastoma: A report from the International Neuroblastoma Risk Group (INRG) project

Background MYCN amplification (MYCN-A) is an established adverse prognostic factor in neuroblastoma. The extent to which the prognostic impact of MYCN-A depends on other factors has not been fully characterized. Patients and methods Using the International Neuroblastoma Risk Group database, we constructed Cox models of overall survival (OS) to obtain hazard ratios of the effect of MYCN-A within subgroups defined by other prognostic factors. Cox models assessed the degree to which the prognostic impact of MYCN-A was modulated by each other covariate. We used absolute hazard ratio (HR) differences to construct classification trees to identify subgroups with greatest differential prognostic effect of MYCN-A. Results In a cohort of 6223 patients with known MYCN status, the OS hazard ratio associated with MYCN-A was 6.3 (95% confidence interval 5.7-7.0, P = 18 months). MYCN-A remained significantly prognostic of OS after controlling for other factors, abrogating their prognostic strength. Patients whose outcome was most impacted by MYCN status were those who were <18 months, had high mitosis karrhyohexis index (MKI) and low ferritin. Conclusion The prognostic strength of MYCN-A varies depending on which patient subgroup defined by other neuroblastoma risk factors is examined, with greatest strength in patients with otherwise favorable features. MYCN-A has little effect within some subgroups, aiding clinical decision-making if MYCN status cannot be assessed. Subgroups where MYCN-A has large effect may be prioritized for agents targeting Myc family proteins

Poor survival for infants with MYCN-amplified metastatic neuroblastoma despite intensified treatment: the International Society of Paediatric Oncology European Neuroblastoma Experience.

PURPOSE: To report the results of a prospective, nonrandomized European study on infants with neuroblastoma and MYCN gene amplification. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Infants with neuroblastoma (stage 2, 3, 4, and 4s) and MYCN gene amplification who were diagnosed between 1999 and 2004 were eligible for enrollment onto the study. After diagnosis, staging, and mandatory biologic studies, induction chemotherapy (IC) with conventional drugs was administered, followed by delayed surgery, megatherapy (busulfan-melphalan as a conditioning regimen), and local radiotherapy. RESULTS: Of the 46 infants enrolled onto the study, 35 infants were eligible; of these 35 infants, 97% had metastatic spread (24 infants had stage 4, and 10 infants had stage 4s). Two-year overall survival (OS) was 30% (SE, 0.08), with median survival time of 12 months, and 23 deaths due to disease. Two-year, event-free survival (EFS) was 29% (SE, 0.07). The treatment was well tolerated with no deaths as a result of toxicity or severe toxicity. Despite protocol adherence, 30% of the patients who were assessable for response to IC experienced disease progression or did not respond. Stage and high lactate dehydrogenase reached significance in the univariate analysis (P = .028 and .039, respectively for OS; and P = .05 and .031 respectively, for EFS). Ten of 16 patients who received megatherapy are still alive. CONCLUSION: Although treatment was well tolerated, survival was poor and our IC failed to achieve a satisfactory response in 30% of our patients. New therapeutic approaches and more intense world-wide collaboration are needed to achieve a cure in this population

Methodological advances in the discovery of novel neuroblastoma therapeutics

Introduction: Neuroblastoma is a cancer of the sympathetic nervous system that causes up to 15% of cancer-related deaths among children. Among the ~1,000 newly diagnosed cases per year in Europe, more than half are classified as high-risk, with a 5-year survival rate &lt;50%. Current multimodal treatments have improved survival among these patients, but relapsed and refractory tumors remain a major therapeutic challenge. A number of new methodologies are paving the way for the development of more effective and safer therapies to ultimately improve outcomes for high-risk patients. Areas covered: The authors provide a critical review on methodological advances aimed at providing new therapeutic opportunities for neuroblastoma patients, including preclinical models of human disease, generation of omics data to discover new therapeutic targets, and artificial intelligence-based technologies to implement personalized treatments. Expert opinion: While survival of childhood cancer has improved over the past decades, progress has been uneven. Still, survival is dismal for some cancers, including high-risk neuroblastoma. Embracing new technologies (e.g. molecular profiling of tumors, 3D in vitro models, etc.), international collaborative efforts and the incorporation of new therapies (e.g. RNA-based therapies, epigenetic therapies, immunotherapy) will ultimately lead to more effective and safer therapies for these subgroups of neuroblastoma patients.</p

Survival and health care burden of children with retinoblastoma in Europe

IMPORTANCE: Studies on the epidemiology of retinoblastoma (RB) could lead to improvement in management.OBJECTIVE: To estimate the incidence and survival of RB in European children and the occurrence of second primary tumors (other than RB) in these patients.DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study used population-based data from 81 cancer registries in 31 European countries adhering to the European Cancer Registries (EUROCARE-6) project. Data collection took place between January 2000 and December 2013. European children aged 0 to 14 years diagnosed with RB were included. Data were analyzed from May to November 2023.EXPOSURES: Diagnosis of RB with International Classification of Diseases for Oncology, Third Edition (ICD-O-3), morphology coded 9510-9514 (retinoblastoma) and malignant behavior (fifth digit of morphology code, 3).MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURES: Annual incidence (per million children aged 0-14 years), 5-year survival (%), and the standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of subsequent malignant neoplasms.RESULTS: The study included 3262 patients (mean [SD] age, 1.27 [1.63] years; 1706 [52%] male and 1556 [48%] female) from 81 registries. Of these, 3098 patients were considered in trend analysis after excluding registries with incomplete time coverage: 940 in 2000 to 2003, 703 in 2004 to 2006, 744 in 2007 to 2009, and 856 in 2010 to 2013. The estimated overall European incidence rate was 4.0 (95% CI, 3.9-4.1). Rates among countries varied from less than 2 million to greater than 6 million per year. No time trend of incidence was observed in any area. The overall European 5-year survival was 97.8% (95% CI, 95.5-98.9; 3180 cases). Five-year survival was lower in Estonia and Bulgaria (&lt;80%) and 100% in several countries. Twenty-five subsequent malignant neoplasms were recorded during follow-up (up to 14 years), with an SIR of 8.2 and with cases occurring at mean ages between 1.3 and 8.9 years across different sites. An increased risk was found for hematological tumors (SIR, 5) and bone and soft tissue sarcomas (SIR, 29).CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This study showed RB incidence remained stable at 4.0 per 1 000 000 European children aged 0 to 14 years from 2000 to 2013, but estimates varied among countries and differences in survival across countries persist. These data might be used to monitor RB management and occurrences of second tumors. The findings suggest future registry studies should aim to collect standardized RB stage at diagnosis and treatment to interpret disparities and potentially improve surveillance.</p