Systemic therapy timing and use in patients with advanced melanoma at the end of life: A retrospective cohort study.

Novel systemic therapies for advanced melanoma improve survival, but carry potential serious side effects and high costs. This study aimed to assess the timing and use of systemic therapies in the months before death. Patients diagnosed with advanced melanoma (July 2017-June 2020) who died before July 2020 were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry.

European quality indicators developed by the European Commission Initiative on Breast Cancer: a first nationwide assessment for the Dutch setting.

Purpose: This observational study aims to assess the feasibility of calculating indicators developed by the European Commission Initiative on Breast Cancer (ECIBC) for the Dutch breast cancer population.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with invasive or in situ breast cancer between 2012 and 2018 were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry (NCR). Outcomes of the quality indicators (QI) were presented as mean scores and were compared to a stated norm.

Comparing quality of breast cancer care in the Netherlands and Norway by federated propensity score analytics.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to benchmark and compare breast cancer care quality indicators (QIs) between Norway and the Netherlands using federated analytics preventing transfer of patient-level data.

Methods: Breast cancer patients (2017-2018) were retrieved from the Netherlands Cancer Registry and the Cancer Registry of Norway. Five European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists (EUSOMA) QIs were assessed: two on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), two on surgical approaches, and one on postoperative radiotherapy.

Seasonal variation in diagnosis of cutaneous invasive melanoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma: A nationwide study in the Netherlands.

Background: Currently, there is no study that has reported on the seasonal trends of skin cancer in the Netherlands. This study aimed to investigate seasonal variation in diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma (CM) and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) focusing on different subgroups.

Methods: CM diagnosed from 2001 till 2019 and cSCCs from 2001 till 2015 were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry.

Adherence to the Dutch Breast Cancer Guidelines for Surveillance in Breast Cancer Survivors: Real-World Data from a Pooled Multicenter Analysis.

Background: Regular follow-up after treatment for breast cancer is crucial to detect potential recurrences and second contralateral breast cancer in an early stage. However, information about follow-up patterns in the Netherlands is scarce.

Patients And Methods: Details concerning diagnostic procedures and policlinic visits in the first 5 years following a breast cancer diagnosis were gathered between 2009 and 2019 for 9916 patients from 4 large Dutch hospitals.

Development and Validation of an Algorithm to Identify Patients with Advanced Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma from Pathology Reports.

To facilitate nationwide epidemiological research on advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), that is, locally advanced, recurrent, or metastatic cSCC, we sought to develop and validate a rule-based algorithm that identifies advanced cSCC from pathology reports. The algorithm was based on both hierarchical histopathological codes and free text from pathology reports recorded in the National Pathology Registry. Medical files from the Erasmus Medical Center of 186 patients with stage III/IV/recurrent cSCC and 184 patients with stage I/II cSCC were selected and served as the gold standard to assess the performance of the algorithm.

Representativeness of trial participants: linking the EORTC boost-no boost trial to the Netherlands cancer registry.

Background And Objectives: To evaluate the representativeness of Dutch patients participating in the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer EORTC boost-no-boost trial to the target breast cancer patient population.

Methods: All female breast cancer patients diagnosed between 1989 and 1996, aged ≤70 years, treated with breast-conserving surgery and radiation therapy, were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry (NCR) and linked to the EORTC trial database. Baseline characteristics were compared between trial and non-trial participants, for the Dutch population and according to seven participating institutions.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on keratinocyte carcinoma in the Netherlands: Trends in diagnoses and magnitude of diagnostic delays.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted Dutch society and the healthcare system. Focus switched to care for COVID-19 patients, thereby altering care for non-COVID patients. Non-urgent medical visits were cancelled or postponed and patients were reluctant to visit healthcare services.

A nationwide study of the incidence and trends of first and multiple basal cell carcinomas in the Netherlands and prediction of future incidence.

Background: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most frequently diagnosed malignancy worldwide and an ever increasing annual incidence is observed. However, nationwide registries of BCCs are very rare, and often extrapolation of the data has been necessary to estimate the absolute number of diagnoses. As of September 2016, all histopathologically confirmed BCCs are registered in the Netherlands, due to developments in automatic notification and import in the Netherlands Cancer Registry.

Stage-specific trends in incidence and survival of cutaneous melanoma in the Netherlands (2003-2018): A nationwide population-based study.

Objective: To examine stage-specific trends in the incidence and survival of cutaneous melanoma in the Netherlands between 2003 and 2018, as well as the uptake of the sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and novel drugs during that period.

Methods: Data were obtained from the nationwide population-based Netherlands Cancer Registry for all patients diagnosed with invasive primary cutaneous melanoma (n = 60,267). We presented age-standardized incidence rates, the proportion of patients with an SLNB, the proportion of patients who received a novel drug (for their primary diagnosis) and one- and five-year relative survival rates.

Incidence and survival of cutaneous melanoma in Belgium and the Netherlands from 2004 to 2016: striking differences and similarities of two neighbouring countries.

Background: Cutaneous melanoma (CM) is a multifactorial disease, with both environmental and genetic factors involved. The incidence of CM has risen rapidly during the last decades, making it a growing public health problem.

Objectives: The purpose of this retrospective study was to compare incidence and survival data of CM between two neighbouring countries, Belgium (BE) and the Netherlands (NL).

Effect of Case-Mix and Random Variation on Breast Cancer Care Quality Indicators and Their Rankability.

Objectives: Hospital comparisons to improve quality of care require valid and reliable quality indicators. We aimed to test the validity and reliability of 6 breast cancer indicators by quantifying the influence of case-mix and random variation.

Methods: The nationwide population-based database included 79 690 patients with breast cancer from 91 Dutch hospitals between 2011 and 2016.

The added value of immediate breast reconstruction to health-related quality of life of breast cancer patients.

Background: Postmastectomy immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) may improve the quality of life (QoL) of breast cancer patients. Guidelines recommend to discuss the option IBR with all patients undergoing mastectomy. However, substantial hospital variation in IBR-rates was previously observed in the Netherlands, influenced by patient, tumour and hospital factors and clinicians' believes.

Association between initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy beyond 30 days after surgery and overall survival among patients with triple-negative breast cancer.

Delayed time to chemotherapy (TTC) is associated with decreased outcomes of breast cancer patients. Recently, studies suggested that the association might be subtype-dependent and that TTC within 30 days should be warranted in patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The aim of the current study is to determine if TTC beyond 30 days is associated with reduced 10-year overall survival in TNBC patients.

An actualised population-based study on the use of radiotherapy in breast cancer patients in the Netherlands.

The utilization rate of RT increased from 64.4% in 2011 to 70.3% in 2015.

Use and Impact of the 21-Gene Recurrence Score in Relation to the Clinical Risk of Developing Metastases in Early Breast Cancer Patients in the Netherlands.

Background: The nationwide use of the 21-gene recurrence score (21-RS) and implications regarding chemotherapy administration in relation to clinical risk in early breast cancer patients are investigated.

Methods: Breast cancer patients surgically treated between 2014 and 2016 were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry and categorized as having a clinical low, intermediate, or high risk of developing metastases. Deployment of the 21-RS is advocated in patients with an intermediate risk of developing metastases.

Hospital transfer after a breast cancer diagnosis: A population-based study in the Netherlands of the extent, predictive characteristics and its impact on time to treatment.

Purpose: Patients may transfer of hospital for clinical reasons but this may delay time to treatment. The purpose of this study is to provide insight in the extent of hospital transfer in breast cancer care; which type of patients transfer and what is the impact on time to treatment.

Methods: We included 41,413 breast cancer patients registered in the Netherlands Cancer Registry between 2014 and 2016.

Variation in the Use of Boost Irradiation in Breast-Conserving Therapy in the Netherlands: The Effect of a National Guideline and Cofounding Factors.

Aims: To determine the variation in radiation therapy boost use in a nationwide study following adjustment of a national guideline in 2011, as well as to address the relationship to patient, tumour and radiation therapy institutional factors.

Materials And Methods: All invasive breast cancers and non-invasive breast cancers (ductal carcinoma in situ; DCIS) that received external whole-breast radiation between 2011 and 2016 were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. Box plots were used to evaluate variation over time and logistic regression was carried out to address other factors influencing the variation.

Regional Recurrence Risk Following a Negative Sentinel Node Procedure Does Not Approximate the False-Negative Rate of the Sentinel Node Procedure in Breast Cancer Patients Not Receiving Radiotherapy or Systemic Treatment.

Background: Although the false-negative rate of the sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in breast cancer patients is 5-7%, reported regional recurrence (RR) rates after negative SLNB are much lower. Adjuvant treatment modalities probably contribute to this discrepancy. This study assessed the 5-year RR risk after a negative SLNB in the subset of patients who underwent breast amputation without radiotherapy or any adjuvant treatment.

Discrepancies Between Surgical Oncologists and Plastic Surgeons in Patient Information Provision and Personal Opinions Towards Immediate Breast Reconstruction.

Background: Immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) may improve quality of life of patients receiving mastectomy. However, a significant hospital variation exists in the use of IBR due to various reasons. To better understand this variation, the present study investigated preoperative information provision to patients and personal opinions of surgical oncologists and plastic surgeons towards potential contra-indications for IBR.

The effect of being informed on receiving immediate breast reconstruction in breast cancer patients.

Introduction: In previous research from the NABON breast cancer audit, observed hospital variation in immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) rates in the Netherlands could not be fully explained by tumour, patient, and hospital factors. The process of information provision and decision-making may also contribute to the observed variation; the objective of the current study was to give insight in the underlying decision-making process for IBR and to determine the effect of being informed about IBR on receiving IBR.

Methods: A total of 502 patients with IBR and 716 without IBR treated at twenty-nine hospitals were invited to complete an online questionnaire on obtained information and decision-making regarding IBR.

Impact of gene-expression profiling in patients with early breast cancer when applied outside the guideline directed indication area.

Purpose: In Dutch guidelines, gene expression profiles (GEP) are indicated in estrogen receptor positive early breast cancer patients in whom benefit of chemotherapy (CT) is uncertain based on traditional prognostic factors alone. Aim of the present study is to assess the use and impact of GEP on administration of adjuvant CT in breast cancer patients who have according to national guidelines a clear indication to either use or withhold adjuvant chemotherapy (clinical high or low risk).

Methods: Clinical low- and high-risk patients, according to Dutch breast cancer guidelines, diagnosed between 2011 and 2014 were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry.

Hospital organizational factors affect the use of immediate breast reconstruction after mastectomy for breast cancer in the Netherlands.

Objectives: Significant hospital variation in the use of immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) after mastectomy exists in the Netherlands. Aims of this study were to identify hospital organizational factors affecting the use of IBR after mastectomy for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) or invasive breast cancer (BC) and to analyze whether these factors explain the variation.

Materials And Methods: Patients with DCIS or primary invasive BC treated with mastectomy between 2011 and 2013 were selected from the national NABON Breast Cancer Audit.