Incidence and Mortality trends of Gastric Cancer in Switzerland 1988−2014

Gastric carcinoma is a prime example of a malignancy caused mainly by environmental factors. While cardia carcinoma can be caused by gastro-oesophageal reflux, obesity and tobacco consumption, non-cardia carcinoma (especially the intestinal type according to Laurén) is attributed to risk factors like dietary habits with e.g. heavily salted foods as well as infection with Helicobacter pylori. This offers the chance of reducing the likelihood of gastric carcinoma by changing one’s lifestyle and by the surveillance of exogenous biological agents. This investigation utilises the data of cantonal and regional population-based cancer registries (PBCRs) to give an overview of gastric cancer incidence according to topography and histology and to present recent incidence and mortality trends of gastric cancer in Switzerland (CH). Furthermore, we intend to investigate whether the gastric carcinoma incidence pattern differs by histologic type in the past 27 years (1988−2014)

Mass spectrometry in stereochemical problems. 6 - The case of mono and di-substituted norbornanes

The mass spectrometric behaviour of pairs of stereoisomeric mono- and di-substituted norbornanes, namely bicyclo[2.2.1]heptane-2-endo- and -exo-carboxylic acid, methyl bicyclo[2.2.1]heptane-2-endo- and -exo-carboxylate, 2-exo-acetamidobicyclo[2.2.1]heptane-2-endo- and 2-endo-acetamidobicyclo[2.2.1]heptane-2-exo-carboxylic acid and methyl 2-exo-acetamidobicyclo[2.2.1]heptane-2-endo- and 2-endo-acetamido-bicyclo[2.2.1]heptane-2-exo-carboxylate was studied in detail with particular emphasis on characterization of the stereoisomers. The fragmentation patterns, studied with the aid of mass-analysed ion kinetic energy spectrometry, were supported by semi-empirical MO–SFC calculations, performed using the AM1 method included in the AMPAC program.Peer reviewe

Evaluation of completeness of case ascertainment in Swiss cancer registration.

This is the first comprehensive evaluation of completeness of case ascertainment in Swiss cancer registration. There is currently no method available that is considered to be the gold standard. Apart from simple measures such as the proportion of cases where registration was initiated by a death certificate and the proportion of diagnoses on the basis of histology or cytology/haematology, we applied two dedicated approaches: (i) the semiquantitative method of comparing the mortality to incidence rate ratio with relative survival (MI-Surv method) and (ii) the Flow method, which provides a quantitative estimate for the completeness depending on time since diagnosis. All 10 Swiss cancer registries in operation since at least 2006 and providing the required parameters were included. Simple and dedicated methods showed high completeness across all cancer registries and for most cancer types tested, with the notable exception of lymphoid leukaemia

A cost-effectiveness analysis of consolidation immunotherapy with durvalumab in stage III NSCLC responding to definitive radiochemotherapy in Switzerland.

BACKGROUND Consolidation immunotherapy with the programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor durvalumab improves survival in patients with stage III non-small-cell lung cancer responding to radiochemotherapy. The aim of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of durvalumab in Switzerland based on the most recent PACIFIC survival follow-up. MATERIALS AND METHODS We constructed a Markov model based on the 3-year follow-up data of the PACIFIC trial and compared consolidation durvalumab with observation. We used published utility values and assessed costs for treatment strategies from the perspective of the Swiss health care payers. Cost-effectiveness was tested both in the intention-to-treat population of the PACIFIC trial unselected for PD-L1 tumor expression and in patients with PD-L1-expressing tumors (≥1%). RESULTS In the unselected/PD-L1-positive patients, durvalumab showed an incremental effectiveness of 0.76/1.18 quality-adjusted life year (QALY) and incremental costs of Swiss Francs (CHF) 67 239/78 177, resulting in incremental cost-effectiveness ratios of CHF 88 703/66 131 per QALY gained, respectively. The most influential factors for the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio were the utility before first progression, costs for durvalumab, and the hazard ratio for overall survival under durvalumab versus observation. The cost-effectiveness of durvalumab was better than CHF 100 000 per QALY gained in 75% of the simulations in probabilistic sensitivity analysis. CONCLUSION Assuming a willingness-to-pay threshold of CHF 100 000 per QALY gained, consolidation durvalumab is likely to be cost-effective both in patients with inoperable stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) unselected for PD-L1 status and in patients with PD-L1-expressing tumors in Switzerland