[The parameter "relative survival": Analysis of regional cancer registry data for prostate cancer].

Background: There is a lack of comparability of relative survival rates due to differences in regional mortality.

Objective: How should relative survival be calculated to be able to compare regional cancer mortality?

Materials And Methods: Calculation of relative survival rates of prostate cancer patients from a regional cancer registry using diagnosis year and stage, based on differential mortality tables.

Results: Calculation of relative survival for all prostate cancer patients shows a very slight excess mortality after 5 years compared to a matched general population.

Differences between clinical trial participants and patients in a population-based registry: the German Rectal Cancer Study vs. the Rostock Cancer Registry.

Purpose: There are few data on whether the samples of randomized phase III studies are representative for cancer patients in general populations.

Methods: We compared patient and disease characteristics of patients with stage II or III rectal cancer from the German Rectal Cancer Study (657 patients, 1995-2002) or the Rostock Cancer Registry (371 patients, 1997-2003). Differences between the Study and the Registry were analyzed for subgroups who received neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy before resection or primary resection with or without postoperative chemoradiotherapy.