Registry-derived stage (RD-Stage) for capturing stage at diagnosis for pancreatic carcinoma in Australia.

Introduction: Stage of pancreatic carcinoma at diagnosis is a strong prognostic indicator of morbidity and mortality, yet is poorly notified to population-based cancer registries ("cancer registries"). Registry-derived stage (RD-Stage) provides a method for cancer registries to use available data sources to compile and record stage in a consistent way. This project describes the development and validation of rules to capture RD-Stage (pancreatic carcinoma) and applies the rules to data currently captured in each Australian cancer registry.

Do age at diagnosis, tumour thickness and tumour site explain sex differences in melanoma survival? A causal mediation analysis using cancer registry data.

Women diagnosed with melanoma have better survival than men, but little is known about potential intervention targets to reduce this survival gap by sex. We conducted a population-based study using Victorian Cancer Registry data including 5833 women and 6780 men aged 15 to 70 years when diagnosed with first primary melanoma between 2007 and 2015. Deaths to the end of 2020 were identified through linkage to the Victorian and national death registries.

The contribution of prognostic factors to socio-demographic inequalities in breast cancer survival in Victoria, Australia.

Background: Breast cancer survival in Australia varies according to socio-economic status (SES) and between rural and urban places of residence. Part of this disparity may be due to differences in prognostic factors at the time of diagnosis.

Methods: Women with invasive breast cancer diagnosed from 2008 until 2012 (n = 14,165) were identified from the Victorian Cancer Registry and followed up for 5 years, with death from breast cancer or other causes recorded.

Characteristics of patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer who access palliative care: An observational study.

Purpose: Despite the benefits of palliative care (PC) in pancreatic cancer, little is known about patients who access PC. This observational study examines the characteristics of patients with pancreatic cancer at their first episode of PC.

Methods: First-time, specialist PC episodes captured through the Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC), in Victoria, Australia between 2014 and 2020, for pancreatic cancer, were identified.

Twenty years of melanoma in Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia (1997 - 2016).

Background: Given the high incidence of melanoma in Australia alongside high mortality with later stage disease, we investigated the populations and locations most at risk, to optimise public health activities in areas where intervention is most needed. This study examines trends and identifies significant prognostic factors and potential disparities in incidence, mortality and survival between population groups in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.

Methods: The analysis includes data from the population-based cancer registries of the three states over a twenty-year period (1997-2016).

Risk factors and prognostic implications of diagnosis of cancer within 30 days after an emergency hospital admission (emergency presentation): an International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP) population-based study.

Background: Greater understanding of international cancer survival differences is needed. We aimed to identify predictors and consequences of cancer diagnosis through emergency presentation in different international jurisdictions in six high-income countries.

Methods: Using a federated analysis model, in this cross-sectional population-based study, we analysed cancer registration and linked hospital admissions data from 14 jurisdictions in six countries (Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, and the UK), including patients with primary diagnosis of invasive oesophageal, stomach, colon, rectal, liver, pancreatic, lung, or ovarian cancer during study periods from Jan 1, 2012, to Dec 31, 2017.

Disparities in radiation therapy utilization for cancer patients in Victoria.

Introduction: To evaluate the proportion of cancer patients who received radiation therapy (RT) within 12 months of cancer diagnosis (RTU12) and identify factors associated with RTU12.

Methods: This is a population-based cohort of individuals with incident cancer, diagnosed between 2013 and 2017 in Victoria. Data linkages were performed between the Victorian Cancer Registry and Victorian Radiotherapy Minimum Dataset.

Risk factors for recurrence in colorectal cancer: a retrospective analysis in a regional Australian hospital.

Background: Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed malignancy in Australia. Up to a third of patients who have undergone surgery with curative intent for colorectal cancer will have a recurrence of disease leading to significant morbidity and mortality. Regional Australians have disproportionately worse outcomes.

Factors Explaining Socio-Economic Inequalities in Survival from Colon Cancer: A Causal Mediation Analysis.

Background: Socio-economic inequalities in colon cancer survival exist in high-income countries, but the reasons are unclear. We assessed the mediating effects of stage at diagnosis, comorbidities, and treatment (surgery and intravenous chemotherapy) on survival from colon cancer.

Methods: We identified 2,203 people aged 15 to 79 years with first primary colon cancer diagnosed in Victoria, Australia, between 2008 and 2011.

Differences in treatment choices for localised prostate cancer diagnosed in private and public health services.

Objective: To compare treatments for localised prostate cancer for men diagnosed in private and public health services in Victoria.

Design: Retrospective analysis of Victorian Cancer Registry data linked to population-based administrative health datasets.

Setting, Participants: 29 325 Victorian men diagnosed with prostate cancer during 2011-2017.

Alignment with Indices of A Care Pathway Is Associated with Improved Survival: An Observational Population-based Study in Colon Cancer Patients.

Background: Causes of variations in outcomes from cancer care in developed countries are often unclear. Australia has developed health system pathways describing consensus standards of optimal cancer care across the phases of prevention through to follow-up or end-of-life. These Optimal Care Pathways (OCP) were introduced from 2013 to 14.

Hospital characteristics, rather than surgical volume, predict length of stay following colorectal cancer surgery.

Objective: Length of hospital stay (LOS) is considered a vital component for successful colorectal surgery treatment. Evidence of an association between hospital surgery volume and LOS has been mixed. Data modelling techniques may give inconsistent results that adversely impact conclusions.

Short-term, but not long-term, increased daytime workload leads to decreased night-time energetics in a free-living song bird.

Reproduction is energetically expensive and to obtain sufficient energy, animals can either alter their metabolic system over time to increase energy intake (increased-intake hypothesis) or reallocate energy from maintenance processes (compensation hypothesis). The first hypothesis predicts a positive relationship between basal metabolic rate (BMR) and energy expenditure (DEE) because of the higher energy demands of the metabolic system at rest. The second hypothesis predicts a trade-off between different body functions, with a reduction of the BMR as a way to compensate for increased daytime energetic expenditure.

Differences in cancer survival by sex: a population-based study using cancer registry data.

Purpose: Few large-scale studies have investigated sex differences in cancer survival and little is known about their temporal and age-related patterns.

Methods: We used cancer registry data for first primary cancers diagnosed between 1982 and 2015 in Victoria, Australia. Cases were followed until the end of 2015 through linkage to death registries.

Tumor PIK3CA Genotype and Prognosis in Early-Stage Breast Cancer: A Pooled Analysis of Individual Patient Data.

Purpose Phosphatidylinositol-4, 5-bisphosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit alpha ( PIK3CA) mutations are frequently observed in primary breast cancer. We evaluated their prognostic relevance by performing a pooled analysis of individual patient data. Patients and Methods Associations between PIK3CA status and clinicopathologic characteristics were tested by applying Cox regression models adjusted for age, tumor size, nodes, grade, estrogen receptor (ER) status, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status, treatment, and study.

Prospective evaluation of prognostic indicators for early recurrence of cutaneous melanoma.

The majority of melanomas are thin lesions with an excellent prognosis; however, significant tumor heterogeneity exists, and a small percentage of patients with early-stage disease may progress to metastatic recurrence. This study aimed to assess whether prognostic factors previously shown to be significant in predicting stage I and stage II melanoma recurrence were consistent in a large prospectively collected patient cohort, and to identify novel prognostic factors associated with early recurrence to inform follow-up protocols. There were 1029 patients with stage I and stage II melanoma included in the analysis, of whom 123 developed a recurrence during follow-up (median 2.