Comparison of Survival among Colon Cancer Patients in the U.S. Military Health System and Patients in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Access to health care is associated with cancer survival. The U.S. military health system (MHS) provides universal health care to beneficiaries, reducing barriers to medical care access. However, it is unknown whether the universal care has translated into improved survival among patients with colon cancer. We compared survival of patients with colon cancer in the MHS to that in the U.S. general population and assessed whether stage at diagnosis differed between the two populations and thus could contribute to survival difference.

Methods

The data were from Department of Defense's (DoD) Automated Central Tumor Registry (ACTUR) and the NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program, respectively. The ACTUR (N = 11,907) and SEER patients (

SUBMITTER: Lin J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8477343 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature