Survival of adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in Germany and the United States.

BACKGROUND: Adulthood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a rare disease. In contrast to childhood ALL, survival for adults with ALL is poor. Recently, new protocols, including use of pediatric protocols in young adults, have improved survival in clinical trials. Here, we examine population level survival in Germany and the United States (US) to gain insight into the extent to which changes in clinical trials have translated into better survival on the population level. METHODS: Data were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database in the US and 11 cancer registries in Germany. Patients age 15-69 diagnosed with ALL were included. Period analysis was used to estimate 5-year relative survival (RS). RESULTS: Overall 5-year RS was estimated at 43.4% for Germany and 35.5% for the US (p = 0.004), with a decrease in survival with increasing age. Survival was higher in Germany than the US for men (43.6% versus 37.7%, p = 0.002) but not for women (42.4% versus 40.3%, p\u3e0.1). Five-year RS estimates increased in Germany and the US between 2002 and 2006 by 11.8 and 7.3 percent units, respectively (p = 0.02 and 0.04, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Survival for adults with ALL continues to be low compared with that for children, but a substantial increase in 5-year survival estimates was seen from 2002 to 2006 in both Germany and the US. The reasons for the survival differences between both countries require clarification

Cancer incidence in type 2 diabetes patients - first results from a feasibility study of the D2C cohort

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A large prospective study in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), the German D2C cohort, is presently being enumerated to investigate risk factors of incident cancer in diabetic patients.</p> <p>Study setting</p> <p>A disease management program was offered, on a voluntary basis, to all T2D patients who were members of a statutory health insurance fund in Germany. This first feasibility report uses data from 26.742 T2D patients, who were 40 to 79 years old, resided in the Muenster District, and who were enrolled between June 2003 and July 2008. Cancer cases were identified through the regional Cancer Registry.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Invasive cancer cases were identified using probabilistic record linkage procedures and pseudonymised personal identifiers. Censoring date was December 31, 2008. We included only first cancers, leaving 12.650 male and 14.092 female T2D with a total of 88.778 person-years (py). We computed standardised incidence ratios (SIR) for external comparisons and we employed Cox regression models and hazard ratios (HR) within the cohort.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified 759 first cancers among male T2D patients (18.7 per 1,000 py) and 605 among females (12.7 per 1,000 py). The risk of any incident cancer in T2D was raised (SIR = 1.14; 95% confidence interval [1.10 - 1.21]), in particular for cancer of the liver (SIR = 1.94 [1.15 - 2.94]) and pancreas (SIR = 1.45 [1.07-1.92]). SIRs decreased markedly with time after T2D diagnosis. In Cox models, adjusting for diabetes duration, body mass index and sex, insulin therapy was related to higher cancer risk (HR = 1.25 [1.17 - 1.33]). No effect was seen for metformin.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Our study demonstrates feasibility of record linkage between DMP and cancer registries. These first cohort results confirm previous reports. It is envisaged to enhance this cohort by inclusion of further regions of the state, expansion of the follow-up times, and collection of a more detailed medication history.</p

Survival of Patients with Oral Cavity Cancer in Germany

The purpose of the present study was to describe the survival of patients diagnosed with oral cavity cancer in Germany. The analyses relied on data from eleven population-based cancer registries in Germany covering a population of 33 million inhabitants. Patients with a diagnosis of oral cavity cancer (ICD-10: C00-06) between 1997 and 2006 are included. Period analysis for 2002–2006 was applied to estimate five-year age-standardized relative survival, taking into account patients' sex as well as grade and tumor stage. Overall five-year relative survival for oral cavity cancer patients was 54.6%. According to tumor localization, five-year survival was 86.5% for lip cancer, 48.1% for tongue cancer and 51.7% for other regions of the oral cavity. Differences in survival were identified with respect to age, sex, tumor grade and stage. The present study is the first to provide a comprehensive overview on survival of oral cavity cancer patients in Germany

Trends in survival of chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients in Germany and the USA in the first decade of the twenty-first century

Abstract Background Recent population-based studies in the United States of America (USA) and other countries have shown improvements in survival for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) diagnosed in the early twenty-first century. Here, we examine the survival for patients diagnosed with CLL in Germany in 1997–2011. Methods Data were extracted from 12 cancer registries in Germany and compared to the data from the USA. Period analysis was used to estimate 5- and 10-year relative survival (RS). Results Five- and 10-year RS estimates in 2009–2011 of 80.2 and 59.5 %, respectively, in Germany and 82.4 and 64.7 %, respectively, in the USA were observed. Overall, 5-year RS increased significantly in Germany and the difference compared to the survival in the USA which slightly decreased between 2003–2005 and 2009–2011. However, age-specific analyses showed persistently higher survival for all ages except for 15–44 in the USA. In general, survival decreased with age, but the age-related disparity was small for patients younger than 75. In both countries, 5-year RS was >80 % for patients less than 75 years of age but <70 % for those age 75+. Conclusions Overall, 5-year survival for patients with CLL is good, but 10-year survival is significantly lower, and survival was much lower for those age 75+. Major differences in survival between countries were not observed. Further research into ways to increase survival for older CLL patients are needed to reduce the persistent large age-related survival disparity

Survival of malignant mesothelioma and other rare thoracic cancers in Germany and the United States: A population‐based study

Evidence on survival of malignant mesothelioma (MM) and other rare thoracic cancers is limited due to the rarity of these cancer sites. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of MM incidence and survival after MM and other rare thoracic cancers in Germany and the United States (US). Incidence was estimated from a German National Cancer Database and from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) 18 database for 2000–2014. Patients diagnosed in 1997–2013 with malignant epithelial tumors of the trachea (Etra), epithelial tumors of the thymus (Ethy) and MM were extracted from a German cancer survival database and from the SEER 13 database. Period analysis was employed to compute 5‐year relative survival (RS). During 2000–2014, an annual average of 0.9 and 0.6 MM cases per 100,000 person‐years was diagnosed in Germany and the US. Rates decreased in Germany and in the US. Patients with Ethy had highest 5‐year RS with US patients surviving longer (69.1% compared to 63.7%, p = 0.02). Survival after Etra was comparable in both countries (Germany 33.6%, US 34.4%, p = 0.07). Survival in MM patients was poor overall (Germany 11.8%, US 12.1%, p &lt; 0.01). Survival improvements were only observed in MM patients in Germany (10.8% [2002–2007] vs. 13.0% [2008–2013], p &lt; 0.01). The lack of progress in survival for Etra and Ethy patients underlines the need of novel preventive, therapeutic and diagnostic approaches. MM incidence significantly decreased in Germany and in the US. Further monitoring of MM incidence is warranted given that a peak in incidence is expected in 2020–2030 in Western countries

Sex Differences in Colorectal Cancer Survival: Population-Based Analysis of 164,996 Colorectal Cancer Patients in Germany

<div><p>Risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) is considerably higher in men compared to women; however, there is inconclusive evidence of sex differences in CRC prognosis. We aimed to assess and explain sex differences in 5-year relative survival using standard and model-based period analysis among 164,996 patients diagnosed with CRC from 1997 to 2006 and reported to 11 German cancer registries covering a population of 33 million inhabitants. Age-adjusted 5-year relative survival was higher in women (64.5% vs. 61.9%, <i>P</i><0.0001). A substantial survival advantage of women was confirmed in multivariate analysis after adjusting for CRC stage and subsite in subjects under 65 years of age (relative excess risk, RER 0.86, 95% CI 0.82–0.90), but not in older subjects (RER 1.01, 95% CI 0.98–1.04); this pattern was similar in the 1st and in the 2nd to 5th year after diagnosis. The survival advantage of women varied by CRC stage and age and was most pronounced for localized disease (RERs 0.59–0.88 in various age subgroups) and in patients under 45 years of age (RERs 0.59, 0.72 and 0.76 in patients with localized, regional or advanced disease, respectively). On the contrary, sex differences in survival did not vary by location of CRC. In conclusion, our large population-based study confirmed a survival advantage of female compared to male CRC patients, most notably in young and middle aged patients and patients with localized disease. The effect of sex hormones, either endogenous or through hormonal replacement therapy, might be the most plausible explanation for the observed patterns.</p></div