Long-term Cancer Survival Trends by Updated Summary Stage.

Background: Stage is the most important prognostic factor for understanding cancer survival trends. Summary stage (SS) classifies cancer based on the extent of spread: In situ, Localized, Regional, or Distant. Continual updating of staging systems poses challenges to stage comparisons over time.

Is the cancer survival improvement in European and American adolescent and young adults still lagging behind that in children?

Improvements during 1978 to 2006 in the 5-year survival rate of adolescents and young adults (AYAs, age 15-39) and children with cancers common to both age groups were evaluated for 1978 to 2006 in Europe and the USA. AYAs had absolute survival increases of 25% and 15% in Europe and the USA, respectively, but in both cases, AYA 5-year survival was, as of 2006, 4% lower than those in children. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) explained most of the survival difference between AYAs and children on both the continents.

International incidence of childhood cancer, 2001-10: a population-based registry study.

Background: Cancer is a major cause of death in children worldwide, and the recorded incidence tends to increase with time. Internationally comparable data on childhood cancer incidence in the past two decades are scarce. This study aimed to provide internationally comparable local data on the incidence of childhood cancer to promote research of causes and implementation of childhood cancer control.

Paediatric cancer stage in population-based cancer registries: the Toronto consensus principles and guidelines.

Population-based cancer registries generate estimates of incidence and survival that are essential for cancer surveillance, research, and control strategies. Although data on cancer stage allow meaningful assessments of changes in cancer incidence and outcomes, stage is not recorded by most population-based cancer registries. The main method of staging adult cancers is the TNM classification.

Cancer in Adolescents and Young Adults: A Narrative Review of the Current Status and a View of the Future.

Importance: Although cancer remains the most common cause of disease-related death in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) in high-income countries, their overall survival rates continue to increase and now exceed 80% at 5 years in several high-income countries. This has been accomplished through progressive improvements in active treatment and supportive care, although accrual rates to therapeutic clinical trials remain disappointing. Recognition of the unique distribution of diseases in the AYA population with cancer and further understanding of the distinctive biology of cancers in AYAs will lead to continuing gains in clinical outcomes.

Comparison of cancer survival trends in the United States of adolescents and young adults with those in children and older adults.

Background: With prior reports indicating a lack of progress in survival improvement in older adolescents and young adults (AYAs) aged 15 to 39 years with cancer compared with both younger and older patients with cancer, the current analysis provides an update of survival trends of cancers among AYAs, children, and older adults.

Methods: Data from the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database for 13 regions were used to ascertain survival trends of the 34 most frequent cancers diagnosed in AYAs compared with children and older adults.

Results: As of 2002 through 2006, the 5-year relative survival rate for all invasive cancers in AYAs was 82.

Incidence and incidence trends of the most frequent cancers in adolescent and young adult Americans, including "nonmalignant/noninvasive" tumors.

Background: Incidence rates and trends of cancers in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) ages 15 to 39 years were reexamined a decade after the US National Cancer Institute AYA Oncology Progress Review Group was established.

Methods: Data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program through 2011 were used to ascertain incidence trends since the year 2000 of the 40 most frequent cancers in AYAs, including tumors with nonmalignant/noninvasive behavior.

Results: Seven cancers in AYAs exhibited an overall increase in incidence; in 4, the annual percent change (APC) exceeded 3 (kidney, thyroid, uterus [corpus], and prostate cancer); whereas, in 3, the APC was between 0.

Analysis of stage and clinical/prognostic factors for colon and rectal cancer from SEER registries: AJCC and collaborative stage data collection system.

Background: The Collaborative Stage (CS) Data Collection System enables multiple cancer registration programs to document anatomic and molecular pathology features that contribute to the Tumor (T), Node (N), Metastasis (M) - TNM - system of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC). This article highlights changes in CS for colon and rectal carcinomas as TNM moved from the AJCC 6th to the 7th editions.

Methods: Data from 18 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) population-based registries were analyzed for the years 2004-2010, which included 191,361colon and 73,341 rectal carcinomas.

Analysis of stage and clinical/prognostic factors for lung cancer from SEER registries: AJCC staging and collaborative stage data collection system.

Background: The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 7th edition introduced major changes in the staging of lung cancer, including the tumor (T), node (N), metastasis (M)-TNM-system and new stage/prognostic site-specific factors (SSFs), collected under the Collaborative Stage Version 2 (CSv2) Data Collection System. The intent was to improve the stage precision that could guide treatment options and ultimately lead to better survival. This report examines stage trends, the change in stage distributions from the AJCC 6th to the 7th edition, and findings of the prognostic SSFs for 2010 lung cancer cases.

Overview of breast cancer collaborative stage data items--their definitions, quality, usage, and clinical implications: a review of SEER data for 2004-2010.

Background: Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program registries began collecting new data items, known as site-specific factors (SSFs), related to breast cancer treatment, prediction, and prognosis under the Collaborative Stage version 2 (CSv2) Data Collection System for cases diagnosed in 2010. The objectives of this report are to: 1) assess the completeness of the new SSFs and discuss their limitations and 2) discuss key changes in American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging between the 6th and 7th editions.

Methods: We used data from the 18 SEER population-based registries (SEER-18), which included 71,983 women diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010.

US incidence of breast cancer subtypes defined by joint hormone receptor and HER2 status.

Background: In 2010, Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries began collecting human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) receptor status for breast cancer cases.

Methods: Breast cancer subtypes defined by joint hormone receptor (HR; estrogen receptor [ER] and progesterone receptor [PR]) and HER2 status were assessed across the 28% of the US population that is covered by SEER registries. Age-specific incidence rates by subtype were calculated for non-Hispanic (NH) white, NH black, NH Asian Pacific Islander (API), and Hispanic women.

Trends in endometrial cancer incidence by race and histology with a correction for the prevalence of hysterectomy, SEER 1992 to 2008.

Background: Incidence rates of endometrial cancer are routinely calculated without removing women who have had a hysterectomy from the denominator, which leads to an underestimate. Furthermore, as the number of women who have had a hysterectomy (hysterectomy prevalence) varies by race, the estimate of racial difference in endometrial cancer incidence is incorrect.

Methods: Data from 1992 to 2008 from the SEER Program were used to calculate incidence rates of endometrial cancer (corpus uterus and uterus, NOS) for 67,588 women 50 years and older.

Annual Report to the Nation on the status of cancer, 1975-2008, featuring cancers associated with excess weight and lack of sufficient physical activity.

Background: Annual updates on cancer occurrence and trends in the United States are provided through collaboration between the American Cancer Society (ACS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR). This year's report highlights the increased cancer risk associated with excess weight (overweight or obesity) and lack of sufficient physical activity (<150 minutes of physical activity per week).

Methods: Data on cancer incidence were obtained from the CDC, NCI, and NAACCR; data on cancer deaths were obtained from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

Annual report to the nation on the status of cancer, 1975-2007, featuring tumors of the brain and other nervous system.

Background: The American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Cancer Institute, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) collaborate annually to provide updated information on cancer occurrence and trends in the United States. This year's report highlights brain and other nervous system (ONS) tumors, including nonmalignant brain tumors, which became reportable on a national level in 2004.

Methods: Cancer incidence data were obtained from the National Cancer Institute, CDC, and NAACCR, and information on deaths was obtained from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

Second malignancy risks after non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia: differences by lymphoma subtype.

Purpose: Previous studies have shown increased risks of second malignancies after non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL); however, no earlier investigation has quantified differences in risk of new malignancy by lymphoma subtype.

Patients And Methods: We evaluated second cancer and leukemia risks among 43,145 1-year survivors of CLL/small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), or follicular lymphoma (FL) from 11 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) population-based registries during 1992 to 2006.

Results: Among patients without HIV/AIDS-related lymphoma, lung cancer risks were significantly elevated after CLL/SLL and FL but not after DLBCL (standardized incidence ratio [SIR], CLL/SLL = 1.

Improved estimates of cancer-specific survival rates from population-based data.

Background: Accurate estimates of cancer survival are important for assessing optimal patient care and prognosis. Evaluation of these estimates via relative survival (a ratio of observed and expected survival rates) requires a population life table that is matched to the cancer population by age, sex, race and/or ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and ideally risk factors for the cancer under examination. Because life tables for all subgroups in a study may be unavailable, we investigated whether cause-specific survival could be used as an alternative for relative survival.

Outcomes for children and adolescents with cancer: challenges for the twenty-first century.

Purpose: This report provides an overview of current childhood cancer statistics to facilitate analysis of the impact of past research discoveries on outcome and provide essential information for prioritizing future research directions.

Methods: Incidence and survival data for childhood cancers came from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results 9 (SEER 9) registries, and mortality data were based on deaths in the United States that were reported by states to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by underlying cause.

Results: Childhood cancer incidence rates increased significantly from 1975 through 2006, with increasing rates for acute lymphoblastic leukemia being most notable.

Feasibility study for collection of HER2 data by National Cancer Institute (NCI) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program central cancer registries.

The clinical importance of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) in breast cancer is now clearly established, given that expression of this tumor marker is used to guide therapy and as a prognostic indicator. Despite its now routine evaluation in breast cancer patients, population-based data are lacking because information on HER2 status is not routinely collected in the majority of population-based cancer registries. We assessed the feasibility of collecting HER2 data and its completeness in three registries in the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program.

Annual report to the nation on the status of cancer, 1975-2006, featuring colorectal cancer trends and impact of interventions (risk factors, screening, and treatment) to reduce future rates.

Background: The American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) collaborate annually to provide updated information regarding cancer occurrence and trends in the United States. This year's report includes trends in colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and death rates and highlights the use of microsimulation modeling as a tool for interpreting past trends and projecting future trends to assist in cancer control planning and policy decisions.

Methods: Information regarding invasive cancers was obtained from the NCI, CDC, and NAACCR; and information on deaths was obtained from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

Estimating breast cancer-specific and other-cause mortality in clinical trial and population-based cancer registry cohorts.

Background: To compute net cancer-specific survival rates using population data sources (eg, the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results [SEER] Program), 2 approaches primarily are used: relative survival (observed survival adjusted for life expectancy) and cause-specific survival based on death certificates. The authors of this report evaluated the performance of these estimates relative to a third approach based on detailed clinical follow-up history.

Methods: By using data from Cancer Cooperative Group clinical trials in breast cancer, the authors estimated 1) relative survival, 2) breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) determined from death certificates, and 3) BCSS obtained by attributing cause according to clinical events after diagnosis, which, for this analysis was considered the benchmark "true" estimate.

Long-term survivors of childhood cancers in the United States.

Purpose: To estimate the number of individuals in the United States diagnosed with cancer as children (ages 0-19 years) as of 2005, with a focus on those surviving for >30 years.

Methods: To estimate the national prevalence of survivors of childhood cancers, we used data from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results program from 1975 to 2004. Long-term childhood cancer survivors, diagnosed before 1975, were estimated using incidence and survival models extrapolated into years before 1975.

The impact of underreported Veterans Affairs data on national cancer statistics: analysis using population-based SEER registries.

Reduced cancer reporting by the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals in 2007 (for patients diagnosed through 2005) impacted the most recent US cancer surveillance data. To quantify the impact of the reduced VA reporting on cancer incidence and trends produced by the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program, we estimated numbers of missing VA patients in 2005 by sex, age, race, selected cancer sites, and registry and calculated adjustment factors to correct for the 2005 incidence rates and trends. Based on our adjustment factors, we estimated that as a result of the underreporting, the overall cancer burden was underestimated by 1.