Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cervical cancer screening participation, abnormal cytology prevalence and screening interval in Catalonia.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to a national lockdown and the interruption of all cancer preventive services, including cervical cancer screening. We aimed to assess the COVID-19 pandemic impact on opportunistic screening participation, abnormal cytology (ASCUS+) prevalence and screening interval in 2020 and 2021 within the Public Health System of Catalonia, Spain.

Methods: Individual data on cytology and HPV testing of women aged 25-65 from 2014 to 2021 were retrieved from the Information System for Primary Care Services (SISAP).

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Adherence to Endocrine Therapy for Breast Cancer in Catalonia (Spain).

. To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adherence to oral endocrine therapy in patients diagnosed with breast cancer in the public healthcare system in Catalonia (Spain). .

Ten-Year Probabilities of Death Due to Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease among Breast Cancer Patients Diagnosed in North-Eastern Spain.

Mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD), second tumours, and other causes is of clinical interest in the long-term follow-up of breast cancer (BC) patients. Using a cohort of BC patients (N = 6758) from the cancer registries of Girona and Tarragona (north-eastern Spain), we studied the 10-year probabilities of death due to BC, other cancers, and CVD according to stage at diagnosis and hormone receptor (HR) status. Among the non-BC causes of death (N = 720), CVD (N = 218) surpassed other cancers (N = 196).

Using population-based data to evaluate the impact of adherence to endocrine therapy on survival in breast cancer through the web-application BreCanSurvPred.

We show how the use and interpretation of population-based cancer survival indicators can help oncologists talk with breast cancer (BC) patients about the relationship between their prognosis and their adherence to endocrine therapy (ET). The study population comprised a population-based cohort of estrogen receptor positive BC patients (N = 1268) diagnosed in Girona and Tarragona (Northeastern Spain) and classified according to HER2 status (+ / -), stage at diagnosis (I/II/III) and five-year cumulative adherence rate (adherent > 80%; non-adherent ≤ 80%). Cox regression analysis was performed to identify significant prognostic factors for overall survival, whereas relative survival (RS) was used to estimate the crude probability of death due to BC (P).

No Excess Mortality up to 10 Years in Early Stages of Breast Cancer in Women Adherent to Oral Endocrine Therapy: A Probabilistic Graphical Modeling Approach.

Breast cancer (BC) is globally the most frequent cancer in women. Adherence to endocrine therapy (ET) in hormone-receptor-positive BC patients is active and voluntary for the first five years after diagnosis. This study examines the impact of adherence to ET on 10-year excess mortality (EM) in patients diagnosed with Stages I to III BC (N = 2297).

Innovation, value and reimbursement in radiation and complex surgical oncology: Time to rethink.

Background And Purpose: Complex surgery and radiotherapy are the central pillars of loco-regional oncology treatment. This paper describes the reimbursement schemes used in radiation and complex surgical oncology, reports on literature and policy reviews.

Material And Methods: A systematic review of the literature of the reimbursement models has been carried out separately for radiotherapy and complex cancer surgery based on PRISMA guidelines.

Innovation, value and reimbursement in radiation and complex surgical oncology: Time to rethink.

Background And Purpose: Complex surgery and radiotherapy are the central pillars of loco-regional oncology treatment. This paper describes the reimbursement schemes used in radiation and complex surgical oncology, reports on literature and policy reviews.

Material And Methods: A systematic review of the literature of the reimbursement models has been carried out separately for radiotherapy and complex cancer surgery based on PRISMA guidelines.

Text messaging as a tool to improve cancer screening programs (M-TICS Study): A randomized controlled trial protocol.

Background: Short message service (SMS) based interventions are widely used in healthcare and have shown promising results to improve cancer screening programs. However, more research is still needed to implement SMS in the screening process. We present a study protocol to assess the impact on health and economics of three targeted SMS-based interventions in population-based cancer screening programs.

Missing data imputation and synthetic data simulation through modeling graphical probabilistic dependencies between variables (ModGraProDep): An application to breast cancer survival.

Background: Two common issues may arise in certain population-based breast cancer (BC) survival studies: I) missing values in a survivals' predictive variable, such as "Stage" at diagnosis, and II) small sample size due to "imbalance class problem" in certain subsets of patients, demanding data modeling/simulation methods.

Methods: We present a procedure, ModGraProDep, based on graphical modeling (GM) of a dataset to overcome these two issues. The performance of the models derived from ModGraProDep is compared with a set of frequently used classification and machine learning algorithms (Missing Data Problem) and with oversampling algorithms (Synthetic Data Simulation).

Impact of non-adherence to radiotherapy on 1-year survival in cancer patients in Catalonia, Spain.

Background: This study aims to assess the effects of non-adherence to external beam radiation therapy in cancer patients receiving treatment with a curative.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study collected health records data for all cancer patients treated with external beam radiotherapy with curative intent in 2016 in Catalonia, Spain. Adherence was defined as having received at least 90% of the total dose prescribed.

A population perspective on the use of external beam radiotherapy in Catalonia, Spain.

Purpose: To assess the use of external beam radiotherapy in Catalonia (Spain), overall and by health management area.

Methods: We assessed radiotherapy treatments in a cohort of patients diagnosed with cancer from 2009 to 2011, using the population-based cancer registries in Girona and Tarragona. Participants had to have a minimum follow-up of 5 years from the time the cancer registry database was linked to the catalan health service database for financing radiation oncology.

Outcomes and cost of lung cancer patients treated surgically or medically in Catalunya: cost-benefit implications for lung cancer screening programs.

Lung cancer screening programs with computed tomography of the chest reduce mortality by more than 20%. Yet, they have not been implemented widely because of logistic and cost implications. Here, we sought to: (1) use real-life data to compare the outcomes and cost of lung cancer patients with treated medically or surgically in our region and (2) from this data, estimate the cost-benefit ratio of a lung cancer screening program (CRIBAR) soon to be deployed in our region (Catalunya, Spain).

Effectiveness of a brief phone intervention to increase participation in a population-based colorectal cancer screening programme: a randomized controlled trial.

Aim: Although colorectal cancer (CRC) screening reduces mortality and morbidity the uptake in target populations is suboptimal. The aim was to assess whether adding a brief phone intervention to the usual invitation process increases participation in a CRC screening programme based in Catalonia.

Method: This was a non-blinded prospective randomized control study of patients eligible for their first CRC screening test (immunochemical faecal occult blood test).

Influence of adherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy on disease-free and overall survival: a population-based study in Catalonia, Spain.

Objective: To assess adherence to endocrine therapy and its relation to recurrence and mortality in women with early breast cancer.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study in population-based cancer registries in two Catalonian provinces of Spain. We included all cases of invasive stage I-III breast cancer diagnosed from 2007 to 2011 and with follow-up to 2017.

Cause-specific mortality after a breast cancer diagnosis: a cohort study of 10,195 women in Girona and Tarragona.

Introduction: Evidence suggests an excess of long-term mortality due to cardiovascular diseases, second tumours and other causes in patients diagnosed with invasive breast cancer (BC). Our aim was to assess this risk of death in a cohort of patients diagnosed with BC in Girona and Tarragona, northeastern Spain.

Materials And Methods: Using data from the cancer registries in these areas, a population-based cohort study was carried out including all the women diagnosed with BC during 1985-2004 and followed up until December 31st 2014 (N = 10,195).

A propensity-score-matched analysis of laparoscopic vs open surgery for rectal cancer in a population-based study.

Aim: The oncological risk/benefit trade-off for laparoscopy in rectal cancer is controversial. Our aim was to compare laparoscopic vs open surgery for resection of rectal cancer, using unselected data from the public healthcare system of Catalonia (Spain).

Methods: This was a multicentre retrospective cohort study of all patients who had surgery with curative intent for primary rectal cancer at Catalonian public hospitals from 2011 to 2012.

[Excess mortality among breast cancer patients in early stages in Tarragona and Gerona (Spain)].

Objective: To analyze the population-based survival of breast cancer (CM) diagnosed in early stages estimating the time trends of excess mortality (EM) in the long term in annual and five-year time intervals, and to determine, if possible, a proportion of patients who can be considered cured.

Method: We included women diagnosed with BC under the age of 60 years in stages I and II in Girona and Tarragona (N = 2453). The observed (OS) and relative survival (RS) were calculated up to 20 years of follow-up.

Risk factors for severe complications of colonoscopy in screening programs.

Severe complications (SC) in colonoscopy represent the most important adverse effect of colorectal cancer screening programs (CRCSP). The objective is to evaluate the risk factors for SC in colonoscopy indicated after a positive fecal occult blood test in population-based CRCSP. The SC (n = 161) identified from 48,730 diagnostic colonoscopies performed in a cohort of all the women and men invited from 2000 to 2012 in 6 CRCSP in Spain.

[Participation of the immigrant population in breast cancer screening in Tarragona, Spain].

Objective: To evaluate the differences between autochthonous and allochthonous women's participation in a breast cancer screening programme.

Method: Retrospective study based on data from the Breast Cancer Screening Programme of the province of Tarragona (2008-2015). The sample is the target population of the programme with known country of origin.

Moving towards an organized cervical cancer screening: costs and impact.

Background: HPV screening has been shown to be more cost-effective than cytology screening under most scenarios. Furthermore, it should be offered only in organized programmes with good quality assurance mechanisms. This study analyses the comparative cost of the current policy of opportunistic cytology screening vs.

Clinical and histologic characteristics of breast cancers in women with previous pathologic diagnosis of benign breast disease in Spain.

Women with a benign breast disease (BBD) have an increased risk of subsequent breast carcinoma. Information is scarce regarding the characteristics of breast carcinomas diagnosed after a BBD. Our aim was to point out the differences in clinical and histologic characteristics of breast carcinomas diagnosed in women with and without a previous pathologic diagnosis of BBD in the context of population-based mammography screening.

Long-term crude probabilities of death among breast cancer patients by age and stage: a population-based survival study in Northeastern Spain (Girona-Tarragona 1985-2004).

Background: We provide population-based long-term survival indicators of breast cancer patients by quantifying the observed survival, and the probabilities of death due to breast cancer and to other causes by age and tumor stage at diagnosis.

Methods: We included a total of 10,195 female patients diagnosed before 85 years with invasive primary breast cancer in Girona and Tarragona during the periods 1985-1994 and 1995-2004 and followed-up until December 31st 2014. The survival indicators were estimated at 5, 10, 15 and 20 years of follow-up comparing diagnostic periods.

Predicting the cancer burden in Catalonia between 2015 and 2025: the challenge of cancer management in the elderly.

Background: Developing effective cancer control programmes requires information on the future cancer burden in an ageing population. In our study we predicted the burden of cancer in Catalonia from 2015 to 2025.

Methods: Bayesian age-period-cohort models were used to predict the burden of cancer from 2015 to 2025 using incidence data from the Girona and Tarragona cancer registries and cancer mortality data from the Catalan mortality registry.

Summary statement on screening for prostate cancer in Europe.

The European Randomised Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) showed that Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) based screening results in a significant prostate cancer mortality reduction. Although there are concerns on overdiagnosis and overtreatment, it has been shown that the benefits can outweigh the harms if screening is stopped in older ages to prevent overdiagnosis. A limited screening program (for example screening at ages 55-59 years), including active surveillance for men with low-risk tumors, can even be cost-saving, compared with testing in an opportunistic setting in the wrong ages, as currently in Europe.

Factors influencing participation in colorectal cancer screening programs in Spain.

To analyze the sociodemographic and organizational factors influencing participation in population-based colorectal cancer screening programs (CRCSP) in Spain, a retrospective study was conducted in a cohort of people invited to participate in the first 3 screening rounds of 6 CRCSP from 2000 to 2012. Mixed logistic regression models were used to analyze the relationship between sociodemographic and organizational factors, such as the type of fecal occult blood test (FOBT) used and the FOBT delivery type. The analysis was performed separately in groups (Initial screening-first invitation, Subsequent invitation for previous never-responders, Subsequent invitation-regular, Subsequent invitation-irregular intervals).