Publications by authors named "Lien van Walle"
Background: The first COVID-19 wave in 2020 necessitated temporary suspension of non-essential medical services including organized cancer screening programs in Belgium. This study assessed the impact of the pandemic on breast cancer (BC) incidence, stage at diagnosis, and management in Belgium in 2020.
Methods: All Belgian residents diagnosed with in situ or invasive BC in 2015-2020 in the nationwide, population-based cancer registry database were included.
Objective: Assessing the association between hospital surgical volume (SV) and outcomes after rectal cancer surgery (RCS), using national population-based data.
Summary Background Data: For RCS, the association of higher SV with improved short- and/or long-term outcomes remains controversial.
Methods: National cancer registry data and administrative data were used to select patients diagnosed with stage I-III rectal cancer in 2009-2018 and who underwent RCS.
Purpose: We aimed to assess the impact of surgery of primary tumor in overall survival (OS) of women with de novo metastatic breast cancer.
Methods: Nationwide, population-based retrospective cohort study of women diagnosed with de novo metastatic breast cancer in Belgium, between Jan/2010-Dec/2014. Data was obtained from the Belgian Cancer Registry and administrative databases.
Background: Practice indicators (PI) measure provided care making use of real-world data. This study describes trends and variations in adjuvant treatment of early breast cancer (EBC) using the European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists (EUSOMA) database.
Methods: The analysis was conducted on anonymous cumulative data registered by 56 certified breast centres, which all entered at least 500 new diagnoses in the database in the 10-year period 2010-2019.
Article Synopsis
- The study found that higher hospital volumes of esophageal cancer surgeries are linked to better patient outcomes, including lower 90-day mortality and improved 5-year survival rates.
- By analyzing data from 4,156 patients across 79 hospitals, the research revealed that hospitals classified as high-volume (≥20 surgeries/year) performed significantly better than low-volume hospitals (<6 surgeries/year).
- The results advocate for national health policy changes in Belgium to centralize esophageal resections in higher-volume centers to enhance patient care.
As part of its core business of gathering population-based information on new cancer diagnoses, the Belgian Cancer Registry receives free-text pathology reports, describing results of (pre-)malignant specimens. These reports are provided by 82 laboratories and written in 2 national languages, Dutch or French. For breast cancer, the reports characterize the status of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and Erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: A subset of patients experience a biochemical recurrence following radical prostatectomy. Radiotherapy can salvage those patients, provided that all disease is encompassed within the target volume. We hypothesized that this can be achieved more adequately with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided treatment planning.
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