Time between pancreatic cancer diagnosis and treatment initiation and survival in the U.S. Military Health System.

Background: Pancreatic cancer has a high case fatality and treatment is known to improve survival. It is unknown whether the time between diagnosis and treatment initiation (time-to-treatment) is related to survival. Access to medical care may influence both treatment receipt and timing.

Pulmonary Hypertension and Survival among Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Study in the U.S. Military Health System.

Lung cancer is one of the most lethal cancers with survival being closely related to stage and influenced by comorbid illness. The survival implications of pulmonary hypertension (PH) on patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have only been evaluated in small cohorts, with limited long-term follow-up. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 7946 patients with NSCLC diagnosed in the MHS.

Bone Sarcoma Survival in the US Military Health System: Comparison With the SEER Program.

Background: Access to care is associated with cancer survival. The US Military Health System (MHS) provides universal health care to all beneficiaries. However, it is unknown whether survival among patients with bone sarcoma in a health system providing universal care is better than that in the general population.

Treatment of pancreatic adenocarcinoma in relation to survival in the U.S. Military Health System.

Background: Pancreatic cancer has a high case fatality and relatively short survival after diagnosis. Treatment is paramount to improving survival, but studies on the effects of standard treatment by surgery or chemotherapy on survival in U.S.

Soft-tissue Sarcoma Survival in the US Military Health System: Comparison With the SEER Program.

Introduction: The US Military Health System (MHS) provides universal health care to beneficiaries. Few studies have evaluated the potential influence of access to universal care on survival outcomes for sarcoma. This study compared the survival of adult patients with soft-tissue sarcoma in the MHS with the US general population.

Survival in Pediatric, Adolescent, and Young Adult Patients With Sarcoma in the Military Health System: Comparison With the SEER Population.

Background: We sought to compare survival outcomes of sarcomas in the pediatric and adolescent/young adult populations with universal care access in the Military Health System (MHS) to those from the United States general population.

Methods: We compared data from the Department of Defense's (DoD) Automated Central Tumor Registry (ACTUR) and the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program on the overall survival of patients 24 years or younger with histologically or microscopically confirmed sarcoma between diagnosed between January 1, 1987, and December 31, 2013. The Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to compare survival between the 2 patient populations.

Racial disparities in survival among women with endometrial cancer in an equal access system.

Objective: The mortality rate for Black women with endometrial cancer (EC) is double that of White women, although the incidence rate is lower among Black women. Unequal access to care may contribute to this racial disparity. This study aimed to assess whether survival varied between non-Hispanic Black (NHB) and non-Hispanic White (NHW) women with EC in the Military Health System (MHS) which provides equal access care to its beneficiaries despite racial/ethnic background.

Consolidation of Cancer Registry and Administrative Claims Data on Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment in the US Military Health System.

Purpose: Linked cancer registry and medical claims data have increased the capacity for cancer research. However, few efforts have described methods to select information between data sources, which may affect data use. We developed a systematic process to evaluate and consolidate cancer diagnosis and treatment information between the linked Department of Defense Central Cancer Registry (CCR) and Military Health System Data Repository (MDR) administrative claims database, called Military Cancer Epidemiology Data System (MilCanEpi).