Vaginal and (uncommon) cervical cancers in the Netherlands, 1989-2003

Background: The clinical and prognostic evaluation of cervical and vaginal tumors other than squamous cell and adenocarcinomas is hampered by the low incidence, and clinical and epidemiological studies on these uncommon tumors are scarce. Having close affinity with the pathology laboratories, the Netherlands Cancer Registry offers a great opportunity to study frequency, stage, treatment, and survival of uncommon tumors in the cervix and vagina and separately, the clear cell adenocarcinoma of the vagina and cervix.\ud \ud Methods: All invasive cervical tumors (n = 10,570) and all in situ and invasive vaginal tumors (n = 778) diagnosed in the Netherlands during 1989-2003 were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. Age, stage at diagnosis, and treatment were described for each histological subgroup to find differences between common and uncommon tumors, including 5-year relative survival rates.\ud \ud Results: Twenty-five patients (3%) with cervical cancer subsequently developed a vaginal tumor (during 1989-2003), and 19 of these patients underwent hysterectomy for their cervical cancer. A significantly worse prognosis was found for patients with small cell neuroendocrine cervical tumors and for patients with vaginal melanomas. Patients with clear cell adenocarcinoma of the vagina and cervix were found across all age categories.\ud \ud Conclusions: The less common histological types of cervical and vaginal cancers were clearly different from squamous cell carcinomas, especially with respect to age at diagnosis and survival rates. Spreading population-based knowledge of effects of treatment of these uncommon tumors should help clinical decision making and therefore improve prognosis

Geen basis voor verlaging onderste leeftijdsgrens van bevolkingsonderzoek op baarmoederhalskanker

Doel:\ud Nagaan of de onderste leeftijdsgrens van het bevolkingsonderzoek op baarmoederhalskanker verlaagd moet worden.\ud \ud Opzet:\ud Retrospectieve data-analyse.\ud \ud Methode:\ud Uit de Nederlandse Kankerregistratie werden alle gevallen geselecteerd van invasieve baarmoederhalskanker, gediagnosticeerd in de periode 1989-2003. Voor de leeftijdsgroep van 25-39 jaar waren ook gegevens beschikbaar over 2004 en 2005. Gegevens over sterfte werden verkregen via het Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek. Trends werden beschreven met behulp van de geschatte jaarlijkse procentuele verandering en ‘joinpoint’-analyse.\ud \ud Resultaten:\ud Bij de 25-29-jarigen varieerde het aantal gevallen van baarmoederhalskanker van 0 tot 9 per jaar. De incidentie van baarmoederhalskanker daalde in de leeftijdsgroepen van 35-39 en 45-49 jaar (respectievelijk p < 0,001 en p = 0,012). Het aantal vrouwen dat stierf aan baarmoederhalskanker fluctueerde per jaar en daalde in de leeftijdsgroepen van 30-34 en 35-39 jaar (respectievelijk p = 0,01 en p = 0,03).\ud \ud Conclusie:\ud De incidentie- en sterftecijfers van baarmoederhalskanker onder vrouwen jonger dan 30 jaar zijn heel laag en stijgen niet. Met het verlagen van de onderste leeftijdsgrens van het bevolkingsonderzoek zouden veel afwijkingen worden opgespoord die normaliter in regressie zouden gaan. Omdat de voordelen van het verlagen van de leeftijdsgrens niet opwegen tegen de nadelen in termen van overbehandeling en angst heeft deze verlaging volgens ons op dit moment geen zin

Soft Tissue Sarcoma: The Predominant Primary Malignancy in the Retroperitoneum

Purpose. In the clinical work-up of a retroperitoneal mass, the diagnosis of soft tissue sarcoma is often not considered. Incidence rates of various malignant and benign retroperitoneal tumours were studied to determine the incidence of soft tissue sarcoma in comparison with other neoplasms in the retroperitoneal space

Increasing incidence of cancer and stage migration towards advanced disease in children and young adolescents in the Netherlands, 1990–2017

Background: This is the first national study on trends in cancer incidence for children and young adolescents in the Netherlands,

Improved survival for adolescents and young adults with Hodgkin lymphoma and continued high survival for children in the Netherlands:a population-based study during 1990-2015

Population-based studies that assess long-term patterns of incidence, major aspects of treatment and survival are virtually lacking for Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) at a younger age. This study assessed the progress made for young patients with HL (<25 years at diagnosis) in the Netherlands during 1990–2015. Patient and tumour characteristics were extracted from the population-based Netherlands Cancer Registry. Time trends in incidence and mortality rates were evaluated with average annual percentage change (AAPC) analyses. Stage at diagnosis, initial treatments and site of treatment were studied in relation to observed overall survival (OS). A total of 2619 patients with HL were diagnosed between 1990 and 2015. Incidence rates increased for 18–24-year-old patients (AAPC + 1%, P = 0·01) only. Treatment regimens changed into less radiotherapy and more ‘chemotherapy only’, different for age group and stage. Patients aged 15–17 years were increasingly treated at a paediatric oncology centre. The 5-year OS for children was already high in the early 1990s (93%). For patients aged 15–17 and 18–24 years the 5-year OS improved from 84% and 90% in 1990–1994 to 96% and 97% in 2010–2015, respectively. Survival for patients aged 15–17 years was not affected by site of treatment. Our present data demonstrate that significant progress in HL treatment has been made in the Netherlands since 1990

Improved survival for adolescents and young adults with Hodgkin lymphoma and continued high survival for children in the Netherlands: a population-based study during 1990–2015

Population-based studies that assess long-term patterns of incidence, major aspects of treatment and survival are virtually lacking for Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) at a younger age. This study assessed the progress made for young patients with HL (<25 years at diagnosis) in the Netherlands during 1990–2015. Patient and tumour characteristics were extracted from the population-based Netherlands Cancer Registry. Time trends in incidence and mortality rates were evaluated with average annual percentage change (AAPC) analyses. Stage at diagnosis, i

On the avoidability of breast cancer in industrialized societies: older mean age at first birth as an indicator of excess breast cancer risk

Background Breast cancer incidence continuous to increase. We examined at population level the association between the relative excess risk of breast cancer and previous age of mother at first birth. Method Incidence of breast cancer in 34 industrialized countries was obtained from the GLOBOCAN 2002 and SEER databases. Data on age of mother at first birth was collected through national statistics offices. National relative excess risk (RER) was calculated by subtracting the lowest age-specific incidence rate from the rate in each population, and dividing the difference by the latter. Results The national RER in 2002 correlated closely with a higher average age at first birth in 1972, 1982, 1992 and also 2002, Pearson correlation [r] being 0.83, 0.79, 0.72 and 0.61, respectively; P < 0.0001. RER of breast cancer in 2002 for those aged 15–44 years correlated closely with the mean age at first birth in 1982 and 1992 (r: 0.81 and 0.75; P < 0.0001), whereas RER for those aged 45–54 years correlated strongly with age at first birth in 1972 and 1982 (r: 0.81 and 0.76; P < 0.0001), and for those aged 55–64 years with age at first birth in 1972 (r: 0.77; P < 0.0001). Conclusions The rising age at first childbirth of mothers has been followed by marked increases in breast cancer incidence. Later age at first birth seems to characterize secular diffusion of ‘modern’ lifestyles with a potentially large impact on increased breast cancer risk, and hence should be accompanied by greater opportunities for prevention through modifiable risk factors

Confirmation of a metastasis-specific microRNA signature in primary colon cancer

The identification of patients with high-risk stage II colon cancer who may benefit from adjuvant therapy may allow the clinical approach to be tailored for these patients based on an understanding of tumour biology. MicroRNAs have been proposed as markers of the prognosis or treatment response in colorectal cancer. Recently, a 2-microRNA signature (l et-7i and miR-10b) was proposed to identify colorectal cancer patients at risk of developing distant metastasis. We assessed the prognostic value of this signature and additional candidate microRNAs in an independent, clinically well-defined, prospectively collected cohort of primary colon cancer patients including stage I-II colon cancer without and stage III colon cancer with adjuvant treatment. The 2-microRNA signature specifically predicted hepatic recurrence in the stage I-II group, but not the overall ability to develop distant metastasis. The addition of miR-30b to the 2-microRNA signature allowed the prediction of both distant metastasis and hepatic recurrence in patients with stage I-II colon cancer who did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy. Available gene expression data allowed us to associate m iR-30b expression with axon guidance and l et-7i expression with cell adhesion, migration, and motility

The impact of disease progression on perceived health status and quality of life of long-term cancer survivors

Introduction The number of cancer survivors experiencing disease progression (DP) is increasing with the number of cancer survivors. However, little is known whether DP affects health-related quality of life (HRQL) of long-term cancer survivors. We aimed therefore to compare the health status (HS) and HRQL of DP and disease-free (DF) survivors up to 15 years after initial diagnosis. Methods 232 cancer survivors with DP identified through the Eindhoven Cancer Registry were matched with 232 DF survivors of similar demographic and clinical characteristics. Patients completed generic HS (SF-36) and cancer-specific HRQL (QOL-CS) questionnaires 5-15 years after diagnosis. Results Compared with DF survivors, DP survivors exhibited significantly lower scores on all SF-36 and QOL-CS (except spiritual well-being) dimensions. DF survivors had better scores than the normative population on all SF-36 dimensions. Among survivors with DP, those with short survival (<5 years) had significantly poorer HS scores on all dimensions except bodily pain compared with the normative population. Comparatively, the long survival (≥5 years) DP group had better HRQL than the short DP group but poorer HRQL than the normative population. In multivariate analyses, DP and DF survival time were independently associated with aspects of HS and HRQL in cancer survivors. Discussions/Conclusions DP cancer survivors have poorer long-term HS and HRQL compared with DF survivors. However, there is suggestion that HS and HRQL does improve over time following DP. Implication for Cancer Survivors Although DP survivors report poorer long-term HRQL compared with DF cancer survivors, results suggest that time can attenuate the distress of DP on HRQL. Psycho-educational programs could help to increase patients' sense of empowerment and personal control should DP occur

Cancer survival in the elderly: Effects of socio-economic factors and health care system features (ELDCARE project)

The purpose of the ELDCARE project is to study differences in cancer survival for elderly patients by country, taking into account the socio-economic conditions and the characteristics of health care systems at the ecological level. Fifty-three European cancer registries, from 19 countries, participating in the EUROCARE 3 programme, collected information to compute relative survival on patients aged 65-84 years, diagnosed over the period 1990-1994. National statistics offices provided the macro-economic and labour force indicators (gross domestic product, total health expenditure, and proportion of people employed in the agriculture sector) as well as the features of national health care systems. Survival for several of the cancer sites had high positive Pearson's correlations (r) with the affluence indicators (usually r > 0.7), but survival for the poor prognosis cancers (lung, ovary, stomach) and for cervix uteri was not so well correlated. Among the medical resources considered, the number of computed tomography scanners was the variable most related to survival in the elderly; the number of total health practitioners in the country did not show any relationship. Survival was related to the marital status of elderly women more strongly than for men and younger people. The highest correlations of survival with the percentage of married elderly women in the population were for cancers of the rectum (r = 0.79) and breast (r = 0.66), while survival correlated negatively with the proportion of widows for most cancers. Being married or widowed is for elderly people, in particular elderly women, an important factor influencing psychological status, life habits and social relationships. Social conditions could play a major role in determining health outcomes, particularly in the elderly, by affecting access to health care and delay in diagnosis