Regional comparison of cancer incidence, mortality, and survival on the level of federal states in Germany using funnel plots.

Population-based cancer registries allow the assessment of regional differences in cancer burden. Comparative cancer statistics are usually reported as ranked bar charts and choropleth maps, which can lead to misinterpretations of the presented figures. The aim of the present study is a regional comparison of cancer statistics in Germany on the level of federal states using funnel plots.

Risk of second primary cancers in women diagnosed with endometrial cancer in German and Swedish cancer registries.

Along with the increasing incidence and favorable prognosis, more women diagnosed with endometrial cancer may develop second primary cancers (SPCs). We aimed at investigating risk of SPCs after endometrial cancer in Germany and Sweden to provide insight into prevention strategies for SPCs. Endometrial cancer patients diagnosed at age ≥15 years in Germany during 1997-2011 and in Sweden nationwide during 1997-2012 were selected.

Risk of Second Primary Cancers in Multiple Myeloma Survivors in German and Swedish Cancer Registries.

We aimed at investigating the distribution and risk of second primary cancers (SPCs) in multiple myeloma (MM) survivors in Germany and Sweden to provide etiological understanding of SPCs and insight into their incidence rates and recording practices. MM patients diagnosed in 1997-2010 at age ≥15 years were selected from the Swedish (nationwide) and 12 German cancer registries. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were used to assess risk of a specific SPC compared to risk of the same first cancer in the corresponding background population.

Distribution and risk of the second discordant primary cancers combined after a specific first primary cancer in German and Swedish cancer registries.

We aimed at investigating the distribution and risk of all second discordant primary cancers (SDPCs) after a specific first primary cancer in Germany and Sweden to provide etiological understanding of SDPCs and insight into their incidence rates and recording practices. Among 1,537,004 survivors of first primary cancers in Germany and 588,103 in Sweden, overall 80,162 and 32,544 SDPCs were recorded, respectively. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) of all SDPCs were elevated at levels between 1.

Survival of cancer patients in urban and rural areas of Germany--a comparison.

Background: Cancer care services including cancer prevention activities are predominantly localised in central cities, potentially causing a heterogeneous geographic access to cancer care. The question of an association between residence in either urban or rural areas and cancer survival has been analysed in other parts of the world with inconsistent results. This study aims at a comparison of age-standardised 5-year survival of cancer patients resident in German urban and rural regions using data from 11 population-based cancer registries covering a population of 33 million people.

Population-Based Effects of Mammography Screening in Bavaria on the Distribution of TNM-T Categories with Respect to Different Histological Subgroups.

Background: Organized mammography screening was implemented in Bavaria in 2003, with a target population of about 1.5 million women (aged 50-69 years). We evaluated the population-based effects of mammography screening on the distribution of tumor-node-metastasis (TNM)-T categories with regard to different histological subgroups of breast cancer.

A Windows application for computing standardized mortality ratios and standardized incidence ratios in cohort studies based on calculation of exact person-years at risk.

Standardized mortality ratios and standardized incidence ratios are widely used in cohort studies to compare mortality or incidence in a study population to that in the general population on a age-time-specific basis, but their computation is not included in standard statistical software packages. Here we present a user-friendly Microsoft Windows program for computing standardized mortality ratios and standardized incidence ratios based on calculation of exact person-years at risk stratified by sex, age and calendar time. The program offers flexible import of different file formats for input data and easy handling of general population reference rate tables, such as mortality or incidence tables exported from cancer registry databases.

SURVSOFT-Software for nonparametric survival analysis.

Long-term observed and relative survival are important outcome measures of cancer patient care reported routinely by many cancer registries, but no commercial statistical software exists for estimating relative survival or performing period survival analysis. The programs publicly available focus only on certain methods, require specific input data formats and often are macros or functions which require underlying software packages. Here we introduce SURVSOFT, a comprehensive, user-friendly Windows program with graphical user interface.

Registration completeness and tumour-node-metastases category distribution in prostatic and testicular cancer in Bavaria.

Tumour-node-metastases (TNM) category distribution can be used as a short-term surrogate measure for survival probability to evaluate the impact of interventions for improved prevention and early detection of cancer. We aimed to demonstrate whether or not an association between registration completeness and TNM category distribution exists and whether accurate estimates of the TNM category distribution are possible before complete registration. With respect to the diagnosis year 2002, the number of registered cases of prostatic and testicular cancer at the Bavarian cancer registry was determined every 6 months between 2003 and 2006 together with the respective TNM category distributions and the completeness of registration.