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A way to explore the existence of “immortals” in cancer registry data – An illustration using data from ICBP SURVMARK-2

Therese M.-L. Andersson, Mark J. Rutherford, Tor Åge Myklebust, Bjørn Møller, Melina Arnold, Isabelle Soerjomataram, Freddie Bray, Hazem Abd Elkader, Gerda Engholm, Dyfed Huws, Alana Little, Lorraine Shack, Paul M. Walsh, Ryan R. Woods, D.Maxwell Parkin, Paul C. Lambert

Cancer Epidemiology, Volume: 76, Start page: 102085

Swansea University Author: Dyfed Huws

Abstract

Accurately recorded vital status of individuals is essential when estimating cancer patient survival. When deaths are ascertained by linkage with vital statistics registers, some may be missed, and such individuals will wrongly appear to be long-term survivors, and survival will be overestimated. In...

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Published in: Cancer Epidemiology
ISSN: 1877-7821 1877-783X
Published: Elsevier BV 2022
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa59120
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Abstract: Accurately recorded vital status of individuals is essential when estimating cancer patient survival. When deaths are ascertained by linkage with vital statistics registers, some may be missed, and such individuals will wrongly appear to be long-term survivors, and survival will be overestimated. Interval-specific relative survival that levels off above one indicates that the survival among the cancer patients is better than expected, which could be due to the presence of immortals. We included colon cancer cases diagnosed in 1995-1999 within the 19 jurisdictions in seven countries participating in ICBP SURVMARK-2, with follow-up information available until end-2015. Interval-specific relative survival was estimated for each year following diagnosis, by country and age group at diagnosis. The interval-specific relative survival levels off at 1 for all countries and age groups, with two exceptions: for the age group diagnosed at age 75 years and above in Ireland, and, to a lesser extent, in New Zealand. Overall, a subset of immortals are not apparent in the early years within the ICBP SURVMARK-2 study, except for possibly in Ireland. We suggest this approach as one strategy of exploring the existence of immortals, and to be part of routine checks of cancer registry data. [Abstract copyright: Crown Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.]
Keywords: Cancer registry, Cancer Survival, Immortals
College: Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
Funders: The ICBP-SurvMArk-2 project and its data collection were supported by the ICBP which is funded by the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer; Cancer Council Victoria; Cancer Institute New South Wales; Cancer Research UK; Danish Cancer Society; National Cancer Registry Ireland; The Cancer Society of New Zealand; NHS England; Norwegian Cancer Society; Public Health Agency Northern Ireland on behalf of the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry; DG Health and Social Care, Scottish Government; Western Australia Department of Health; Public Health Wales NHS Trust.
Start Page: 102085