9 research outputs found
Key indicators of organized cancer screening programs: Results from a Delphi study
Objective
To maximize benefits and reduce potential harms of organized cancer screening programs in Europe, monitoring, quality assurance, and evaluation of long-term impact are required. We aimed to identify the most important indicators to be collected and reported. The study was designed to establish a consensus within a European-level working group and suggest a manageable list of key indicators.
Methods
We conducted a Delphi study among policymakers, researchers, and program coordinators who were experts in breast, cervical, or colorectal cancer screening. Study participants evaluated the importance of screening indicators on a 5-point Likert scale.
Results
The top 10 indicators by study participants were interval cancer rate, detection rate, screening attendance, screening coverage, cancer incidence
Impacts of the Finnish service screening programme on breast cancer rates
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of the current study was to examine impacts of the Finnish breast cancer (BC) screening programme on the population-based incidence and mortality rates. The programme has been historically targeted to a rather narrow age band, mainly women of ages 50â59 years.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was based on the information on breast cancer during 1971â2003 from the files of the Finnish Cancer Registry. Incidence, cause-specific mortality as well as incidence-based (refined) mortality from BC were analysed with Poisson regression. Age-specific incidence and routine cause-specific mortality were estimated for the most recent five-year period available; incidence-based mortality, respectively, for the whole steady state of the programme, 1992â2003.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was excess BC incidence with actual screening ages; incidence in ages 50â69 was increased 8% (95 CI 2.9â13.4). There was an increasing temporal tendency in the incidence of localised BC; and, respectively, a decrease in that of non-localised BC. The latter was most consistent in age groups where screening had been on-going several years or eventually after the last screen. The refined mortality rate from BC diagnosed in ages 50â69 was decreased with -11.1% (95% CI -19.4, -2.1).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The current study demonstrates that BC screening in Finland is effective in reducing mortality rates from breast cancers, even though the impact on the population level is smaller than expected based on the results from randomised trials among women screened in age 50 to 69. This may be explained by the rather young age group targeted in our country. Consideration whether to targeted screening up to age 69 is warranted.</p
Cancer incidence in the vicinity of Finnish nuclear power plants: an emphasis on childhood leukemia
The objective of this paper was to study cancer incidence, especially leukemia in children (<15Â years), in the vicinity of Finnish nuclear power plants (NPPs). We used three different approaches: ecological analysis at municipality level, residential cohorts defined from census data, and caseâcontrol analysis with individual residential histories. The standardized incidence ratio of childhood leukemia for the seven municipalities in the vicinity of NPPs was 1.0 (95% CI 0.6, 1.6) compared to the rest of Finland. The two cohorts defined by censuses of 1980 and 1990 gave rate ratios of 1.0 (95% CI 0.3, 2.6) and 0.9 (95% CI 0.2, 2.7), respectively, for childhood leukemia in the population residing within 15Â km from the NPPs compared to the 15â50Â km zone. The caseâcontrol analysis with 16 cases of childhood leukemia and 64 matched population-based controls gave an odds ratio for average distance between residence and NPP in the closest 5â9.9Â km zone of 0.7 (95% CI 0.1, 10.4) compared to â„30Â km zone. Our results do not indicate an increase in childhood leukemia and other cancers in the vicinity of Finnish NPPs though the small sample size limits the strength of conclusions. The conclusion was the same for adults
Development and Validation of Three Regional Microsimulation Models for Predicting Colorectal Cancer Screening Benefits in Europe
Background. Validated microsimulation models have been shown to be useful tools in providing support for colorec-
tal cancer (CRC) screening decisions. Aiming to assist European countries in reducing CRC mortality, we developed
and validated three regional models for evaluating CRC screening in Europe. Methods. Microsimulation Screening
AnalysisâColon (MISCAN-Colon) model versions for Italy, Slovenia, and Finland were quantified using data from
different national institutions. These models were validated against the best available evidence for the effectiveness of
screening from their region (when available): the Screening for COlon REctum (SCORE) trial and the Florentine
fecal immunochemical test (FIT) screening study for Italy; the Norwegian Colorectal Cancer Prevention
(NORCCAP) trial and the guaiac fecal occult blood test (gFOBT) Finnish population-based study for Finland.
When published evidenc