Comparison between two cancer registry quality check systems: functional features and differences in an Italian network of cancer registries dataset

PurposeThe aim of this study was to compare the functional characteristics of two computer-based systems for quality control of cancer registry data through analysis of their output differences. MethodsThe study used cancer incidence data from 22 of the 49 registries of the Italian Network of Cancer Registries registered between 1986 and 2017. Two different data checking systems developed by the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the Joint Research Center (JRC) with the European Network of Cancer Registries (ENCR) and routinely used by registrars were used to check the quality of the data. The outputs generated by the two systems on the same dataset of each registry were analyzed and compared. ResultsThe study included a total of 1,305,689 cancer cases. The overall quality of the dataset was high, with 86% (81.7-94.1) microscopically verified cases and only 1.3% (0.03-3.06) cases with a diagnosis by death certificate only. The two check systems identified a low percentage of errors (JRC-ENCR 0.17% and IARC 0.003%) and about the same proportion of warnings (JRC-ENCR 2.79% and IARC 2.42%) in the dataset. Forty-two cases (2% of errors) and 7067 cases (11.5% of warnings) were identified by both systems in equivalent categories. 11.7% of warnings related to TNM staging were identified by the JRC-ENCR system only. The IARC system identified mainly incorrect combination of tumor grade and morphology (72.5% of warnings). ConclusionBoth systems apply checks on a common set of variables, but some variables are checked by only one of the systems (for example, checks on patient follow-up and tumor stage at diagnosis are included by the JRC-ENCR system only). Most errors and warnings were categorized differently by the two systems, but usually described the same issues, with warnings related to "morphology" (JRC-ENCR) and "histology" (IARC) being the most frequent. It is important to find the right balance between the need to maintain high standards of data quality and the workability of such systems in the daily routine of the cancer registry

Causes of death in women with breast cancer: a risks and rates study on a population-based cohort

IntroductionThe increasing survival of patients with breast cancer has prompted the assessment of mortality due to all causes of death in these patients. We estimated the absolute risks of death from different causes, useful for health-care planning and clinical prediction, as well as cause-specific hazards, useful for hypothesis generation on etiology and risk factors.Materials and methodsUsing data from population-based cancer registries we performed a retrospective study on a cohort of women diagnosed with primary breast cancer. We carried out a competing-cause analysis computing cumulative incidence functions (CIFs) and cause-specific hazards (CSHs) in the whole cohort, separately by age, stage and registry area.ResultsThe study cohort comprised 12,742 women followed up for six years. Breast cancer showed the highest CIF, 13.71%, and cardiovascular disease was the second leading cause of death with a CIF of 3.60%. The contribution of breast cancer deaths to the CIF for all causes varied widely by age class: 89.25% in women diagnosed at age <50 years, 72.94% in women diagnosed at age 50–69 and 48.25% in women diagnosed at age ≥70. Greater CIF variations were observed according to stage: the contribution of causes other than breast cancer to CIF for all causes was 73.4% in women with stage I disease, 42.9% in stage II–III and only 13.2% in stage IV. CSH computation revealed temporal variations: in women diagnosed at age ≥70 the CSH for breast cancer was equaled by that for cardiovascular disease and “other diseases” in the sixth year following diagnosis, and an early peak for breast cancer was identified in the first year following diagnosis. Among women aged 50–69 we identified an early peak for breast cancer followed by a further peak near the second year of follow-up. Comparison by geographic area highlighted conspicuous variations: the highest CIF for cardiovascular disease was more than 70% higher than the lowest, while for breast cancer the highest CIF doubled the lowest.ConclusionThe integrated interpretation of absolute risks and hazards suggests the need for multidisciplinary surveillance and prevention using community-based, holistic and well-coordinated survivorship care models

Effectiveness of First-Line Bevacizumab in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: The Observational Cohort Study GRETA

Background: Scant real-world data exist on the clinical outcomes associated with the use of bevacizumab-containing chemotherapy (B+CT) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). The primary objective of the GRETA cohort study was to compare the overall survival (OS) of patients with mCRC treated with first-line B+CT versus chemotherapy (CT) alone, in an Italian clinical practice setting. Materials and Methods: Incident patients with mCRC were identified during the period 2010–2012 from five population-based cancer registries in Italy. Cases were linked to regional health care utilization databases to obtain the entire spectrum of health services provided to each patient. Patients starting a first-line treatment with B+CT or CT alone within 90 days from the diagnosis were included in the study cohort. A propensity score (PS) method was applied to account for residual confounding. Results: Of 480 patients with mCRC included in the study cohort, 21.0 received first-line B+CT, and 79.0% received CT. Patients receiving B+CT were younger (p <.001) and underwent surgery more frequently (p =.001). The median OS was 22.5 and 14.6 months for B+CT and CT, respectively (p =.011). The corresponding hazard ratios adjusted by multivariate modeling and PS matched analysis were 0.82 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.62–1.08) and 0.86 (95% CI, 0.56–1.33), respectively. Similar results were observed after subgrouping by age and surgery. Conclusion: In this Italian real-world setting of unselected mCRC, the OS of patients treated with B+CT was consistent with previous observational and patient-registry studies. However, definitive evidence of an improvement in OS cannot be drawn. Implications for Practice: Bevacizumab is a well-established first-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer. However, there is scarce evidence in the literature about its effectiveness in clinical practice. Evaluating this topic should be of interest for both clinicians and regulatory agencies. In this study, the median overall survival of the bevacizumab cohort was strikingly coherent with that reported in large observational series of unselected patients, thus suggesting a consistent and reproducible effect of the drug in clinical practice. Although consistent results were observed both in the overall population and in age and surgery subgroups, the present study did not offer definitive evidence of an improvement in OS

Molecular Subtypes, Metastatic Pattern and Patient Age in Breast Cancer: An Analysis of Italian Network of Cancer Registries (AIRTUM) Data

Breast cancer stage at diagnosis, patient age and molecular tumor subtype influence disease progression. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationships between these factors and survival in breast cancer patients among the Italian population using data from the AIRTUM national database. We enrolled women with primary breast cancer from 17 population-based cancer registries. Patients were subdivided into older (>69 years), middle (50–69 years) and younger age groups (<50 years) and their primary tumors categorized into four molecular subtypes based on hormone receptor (HR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status. There were 8831 patients diagnosed between 2010 and 2012 included. The most represented age group was 50–69 years (41.7%). In 5735 cases the molecular subtype was identified: HER2–/HR+ was the most frequent (66.2%) and HER2+/HR− the least (6.2%). Of the 390 women with metastases at diagnosis, 38% had simultaneous involvement of multiple sites, independent of age and molecular profile. In women with a single metastatic site, bone (20% of cases), liver (11%), lung (7%) and brain (3%) were the most frequent. In the studied age groups with different receptor expression profiles, the tumor metastasized to target organs with differing frequencies, affecting survival. Five-year survival was lowest in women with triple-negative (HER2−/HR–) tumors and women with brain metastases at diagnosis

Epidemiology of Soft Tissue Sarcoma and Bone Sarcoma inItaly: Analysis of Data from 15 Population-Based Cancer Registries

Sarcomas are a heterogeneous group of rare cancers of mesenchymal origin. In this study, we provide updated, world age-standardised incidence rate (ASR) and European age-standardised incidence rate for malignant soft tissue sarcoma (ICD-O-3 topographic code C47–C49) and bone sarcoma (C40, C41) in Italy, by area (north, centre, and south) and by cancer registry. We also assess morphology in relation to site and area and assess metastases at diagnosis. We analysed 1,112 cases, with incidence 2009–2012, provided by 15 cancer registries (CRs) affiliated to the Association of Italian Cancer Registries (AIRTUM). Overall, ASR was 1.7/100,000/year for soft tissue sarcoma and 0.7 for bone sarcoma. Central Italy had the highest (2.4) ASR and south Italy had the lowest (1.6) ASR for soft tissue sarcoma. Central Italy had the highest (1.1) ASR and north Italy had the lowest (0.7) ASR for bone sarcoma. By CR, ASRs ranged from 1.1 to 2.6 for soft tissue sarcoma and from 0 to 1.4 for bone sarcoma. The most frequent soft tissue sarcomas were sarcoma not otherwise specified (NOS) (29.4%) and liposarcoma (22.2%); the most common bone sarcoma was chondrosarcoma (37.6%). Soft tissue sarcomas occurred most frequently (35.6%) in lower limb connective tissue; bone sarcomas arose mainly (68.8%) in long bones. The frequencies of morphologies arising at different sites varied considerably by Italian area; for example, 20% of hemangiosarcomas occurred in the head and neck in south Italy with 17% at this site in the centre and 6% in the north. For soft tissue sarcoma, the highest ASRs of 2.6 and 2.4 contrast with the lowest ASRs 1.1 and 1.3, suggesting high-risk hot spots that deserve further investigation. The marked variations in morphology distribution with site and geography suggest geographic variation in risk factors that may also repay further investigation particularly since sarcoma etiology is poorly understood

Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors: Design and Characteristics of the First Nationwide Population-Based Cohort in Italy

Purpose: Adolescent and young adult (AYA, 15-39 years) cancer survivors (alive at least 5 years after cancer diagnosis) are less studied than younger and older cancer survivors and research on their late effects is limited. To facilitate research on long-term outcomes of AYA cancer survivors, we established, in Italy, a population-based AYA cancer survivors' cohort. This article describes the study design and main characteristics of this cohort.Methods: The cohort derives from population-based cancer registries (CRs). Each CR identified AYA cancer patients retrospectively. Treatment for first primary cancer and all health events from diagnosis to death can be traced through linkage with available health databases, such as hospital discharge records (HDRs), mortality files, and outpatient and pharmaceutical databases.Results: Thirty-four CRs participated to the cohort which overall includes 93,291 AYAs with cancer and 67,692 cancer survivors. First primary cancer distribution in AYA cancer survivors differs by sex and age groups because of the different cancer types diagnosed in AYAs. Almost 78% of AYA cancer survivors have HDRs and 14.8% also pharmaceutical and outpatient databases.Conclusion: This cohort will be used to study, for the first time in Italy, the pattern and excess risk of late effects in AYA cancer survivors. HDRs, outpatient and pharmaceutical databases will be used to define primary treatment to assess its impact on AYA cancer survivors' late effects. This cohort exploiting data sources already available at CRs, minimize the data collection effort and it will contribute to assess the feasibility of using administrative database to study cancer survivors' late effects

The impact of overdiagnosis on thyroid cancer epidemic in Italy,1998–2012

Aims: In Italy, incidence rates of thyroid cancer (TC) are among the highest worldwide with substantial intracountry heterogeneity. The aim of the study was to examine time trends of TC incidence in Italy and to estimate the proportion of TC cases potentially attributable to overdiagnosis. Methods: Data on TC cases reported to Italian cancer registries during 1998–2012 aged <85 years were included. Age-standardised incidence rates (ASR) were computed by sex, period, and histology. TC overdiagnosis was estimated by sex, period, age, and Italian region. Results: In Italy between 1998–2002 and 2008–2012, TC ASR increased of 74% in women (from 16.2 to 28.2/100,000) and of 90% in men (from 5.3 to 10.1/100,000). ASR increases were nearly exclusively due to papillary TC (+91% in women, +120% in men). In both sexes, more than three-fold differences emerged between regions with highest and lowest ASR. Among TC cases diagnosed in 1998–2012 in Italy, we estimated that overdiagnosis accounted for 75% of cases in women and 63% in men and increased over the study period leading to overdiagnosis of 79% in women and 67% in men in 2008–2012. Notably, overdiagnosis was over 80% among women aged <55 years, and substantial variations were documented across Italian regions, in both genders. Conclusion(s): Incidence rates of TC are steadily increasing in Italy and largely due to overdiagnosis. These findings call for an update of thyroid gland examination practices in the asymptomatic general population, at national and regional levels