Improved estimates of cancer-specific survival rates from population-based data.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Accurate estimates of cancer survival are important for assessing optimal patient care and prognosis. Evaluation of these estimates via relative survival (a ratio of observed and expected survival rates) requires a population life table that is matched to the cancer population by age, sex, race and/or ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and ideally risk factors for the cancer under examination. Because life tables for all subgroups in a study may be unavailable, we investigated whether cause-specific survival could be used as an alternative for relative survival.

Methods

We used data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program for 2,330,905 cancer patients from January 1, 1992, through December 31, 2004. We defined cancer-specific deaths according to

SUBMITTER: Howlader N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2957430 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature