Changing incidence and improved survival of gliomas.

Background: Tumours of the central nervous system (CNS) represent a relatively rare but serious health burden. This study provides insight into the incidence and survival patterns of gliomas in the Netherlands diagnosed in adult patients during the time period 1989-2010, with a focus on glioblastoma and low-grade gliomas.

Methods: Data on 21,085 gliomas (excluding grade I tumours) were obtained from the Netherlands Cancer Registry, including tumours of the CNS without pathological confirmation.

The course of anxiety and depression for patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma or diffuse large B cell lymphoma: a longitudinal study of the PROFILES registry.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to prospectively assess anxiety and depression among patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Also, to compare its prevalence with a normative population, identify subgroups with more anxiety and depression, and assess its impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

Methods: The population-based Eindhoven Cancer Registry was used to select patients diagnosed with HL or DLBCL from 1999 to 2010, 489 responded (T1).

Conditional survival for long-term colorectal cancer survivors in the Netherlands: who do best?

Aim: With the increase in the number of long-term colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors, there is a growing need for subgroup-specific analysis of conditional survival.

Methods: All 137,030 stage I-III CRC patients diagnosed in the Netherlands between 1989 and 2008 aged 15-89 years were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. We determined conditional 5-year relative survival rates, according to age, subsite and tumour stage for each additional year survived up to 15 years after diagnosis as well as trends in absolute risks for and distribution of causes of death during follow-up.

Health-related quality of life and persistent symptoms in relation to (R-)CHOP14, (R-)CHOP21, and other therapies among patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: results of the population-based PHAROS-registry.

The increasing number of longer-living patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and serious side effects of treatment urged us to study the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and persistent (treatment-related) symptoms in unselected patients after different treatment modalities and compare HRQoL of patients with a normative population. The population-based Eindhoven Cancer Registry was used to select all patients diagnosed with DLBCL from 2004 to 2010. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) was completed twice, with a 1-year interval.

Prognostic factors for survival in metastatic breast cancer by hormone receptor status.

Hormone receptor (HR) status is an important prognostic factor for patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) and is also correlated with other prognostic factors, such as initial lymph node status, HER2-Neu status and age. The prognostic value of these other factors, however, is unknown when stratified by HR positive versus HR negative patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate prognostic factors for MBC survival in relation to HR status.

Breast cancer screening halves the risk of breast cancer death: a case-referent study.

Large-scale epidemiologic studies have consistently demonstrated the effectiveness of mammographic screening programs, however the benefits are still subject to debate. We estimated the effect of the Dutch screening program on breast cancer mortality. In a large multi-region case-referent study, we identified all breast cancer deaths in 2004 and 2005 in women aged 50-75 who had been invited for screening (cases).

External validity of a trial comprised of elderly patients with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.

Background: Inclusion in trials is selective, and thus results may not be generalizable to the general population. The aim of this study was to investigate the external validity of randomized clinical trial outcomes for elderly breast cancer patients.

Methods: We compared characteristics and outcomes of breast cancer patients (n = 1325) who participated in a randomized clinical trial (Tamoxifen Exemestane Adjuvant Multinational trial) with unselected breast cancer patients of corresponding age from the general population (n = 1056).

Towards optimal clinical and epidemiological registration of haematological malignancies: Guidelines for recording progressions, transformations and multiple diagnoses.

Haematological malignancies (HM) represent over 6% of the total cancer incidence in Europe and affect all ages, ranging between 45% of all cancers in children and 7% in the elderly. Thirty per cent of childhood cancer deaths are due to HM, 8% in the elderly. Their registration presents specific challenges, mainly because HM may transform or progress in the course of the disease into other types of HM.

Dermatological exposure to coal tar and bladder cancer risk: a case-control study.

Objective: Coal tar ointments are used as treatment of various skin diseases, especially psoriasis and eczema. These ointments contain several carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Metabolites of these polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are excreted in the urine and therefore, dermatological use of coal tar may be associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer.

Limited human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 discordance in metastatic breast cancer patients treated with trastuzumab, a population based study.

Background: Accurate assessment of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) in breast cancer is essential for proper treatment decisions. HER2 positivity confirmation rates in breast cancer trials by central testing pathology laboratories were reported to be approximately 85%. The aim of our study was to assess in a population based sample concordance of HER2 status in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients locally tested HER2 positive and treated with trastuzumab.

The impact of organisational external peer review on colorectal cancer treatment and survival in the Netherlands.

Background: Organisational external peer review was introduced in 1994 in the Netherlands to improve multidisciplinary cancer care. We examined the clinical impact of this programme on colorectal cancer care.

Methods: Patients with primary colorectal cancer were included from 23 participating hospitals and 7 controls.

A different method of evaluation of the ERSPC trial confirms that prostate-specific antigen testing has a significant impact on prostate cancer mortality.

The advantages and disadvantages of two different methods of analyzing the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) trial with respect to the effect of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening on prostate cancer (PCa) mortality (ie, disease-specific mortality analysis and excess mortality analysis) are discussed in depth. The traditional disease-specific mortality is the best end point, but it could be biased by misclassification of causes of death, and it does not take into account the possible effect of the screening process on other causes of death. Excess mortality analysis overcomes these problems, but the results could be biased if the expected mortality is not corrected for attendance status.

Trends in incidence, initial treatment and survival of myelodysplastic syndromes: a population-based study of 5144 patients diagnosed in the Netherlands from 2001 to 2010.

Background: Studies with long-term follow-up of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) based on data from nationwide population-based cancer registries are lacking. We conducted a nationwide population-based study to assess trends in incidence, initial treatment and survival in MDS patients diagnosed in the Netherlands from 2001 to 2010.

Methods: We identified 5144 MDS patients (median age, 74 years) from the Netherlands Cancer Registry (NCR).

Attending the breast screening programme after breast cancer treatment: a population-based study.

Introduction: In the Netherlands, breast cancer patients are treated and followed at least 5 years after diagnosis. Furthermore, all women aged 50-74 are invited biennially for mammography by the nationwide screening programme. The relation between the outpatient follow-up (follow-up visits in the outpatient clinic for 5 years after treatment) and the screening programme is not well established and attending the screening programme as well as outpatient follow-up is considered undesirable.

How teams use indicators for quality improvement - a multiple-case study on the use of multiple indicators in multidisciplinary breast cancer teams.

A crucial issue in healthcare is how multidisciplinary teams can use indicators for quality improvement. Such teams have increasingly become the core component in both care delivery and in many quality improvement methods. This study aims to investigate the relationships between (1) team factors and the way multidisciplinary teams use indicators for quality improvement, and (2) both team and process factors and the intended results.

Trends in incidence and survival of Dutch women with vulvar squamous cell carcinoma.

Aim: Previous studies showed an increase in incidence of vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN), the premalignant lesion of Vulvar Squamous Cell Carcinoma (VSCC). Furthermore, during the last decades treatment of VSCC became less radical. Considering these changes the aim of this study was to describe trends of incidence and survival of patients with VSCC in the Netherlands.

Progress against laryngeal cancer in The Netherlands between 1989 and 2010.

Cancer of the larynx is a frequently occurring head and neck cancer in The Netherlands. The main risk factors are smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. The aim of our study was to evaluate the progress against laryngeal cancer by studying trends in incidence, mortality and survival in The Netherlands.

Outcomes of a population-based series of early breast cancer patients with micrometastases and isolated tumour cells in axillary lymph nodes.

Background: Axillary lymph node staging is traditionally important to provide prognostic information to guide further treatment. However, the relevance of isolated tumour cells (ITC) or micrometastases in axillary nodes and the need for adjuvant treatment remain uncertain.

Patients And Methods: Data from 18 370 patients with pT1-2 breast cancer with pN0, pN0i+ or pN1mi were analysed.

Breast cancer follow-up: from the perspective of health professionals and patients.

Increased breast cancer incidence and better survival have raised the number of patients requiring follow-up care. Despite guidelines, there is controversy about appropriate breast cancer follow-up. Therefore, semi-structured interviews were conducted in two hospitals with 23 patients and 18 health professionals (HPs) in order to explore opinions and preferences about the purpose, the duration and frequency of breast cancer follow-up and which examinations should be done, by whom.

Complicated postoperative recovery increases omission, delay and discontinuation of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with Stage III colon cancer.

Aim: The study included investigation of factors determining suboptimal adjuvant chemotherapy of patients diagnosed with Stage III colon cancer.

Method: All 606 patients diagnosed with Stage III colon cancer between 2006 and 2008 in the western part of the Netherlands were included. Patient [gender, age, comorbidity and socio-economic status (SES)], tumour (location, stage and grade) and treatment (emergency surgery, laparoscopic surgery, reoperation, hospital stay and multidisciplinary meeting) factors were examined in logistic regression analyses predicting a complicated postoperative period and omission, delay and discontinuation of adjuvant chemotherapy.

Adrenocortical carcinoma: a population-based study on incidence and survival in the Netherlands since 1993.

Background: The reported annual incidence of adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is 0.5-2.0 cases per million individuals.

Rare neuroendocrine tumours: results of the surveillance of rare cancers in Europe project.

Because of the low incidence, and limited opportunities for large patient volume experiences, there are very few relevant studies of neuroendocrine tumours (NETs). A large population-based database (including cancer patients diagnosed from 1978 to 2002 and registered in 76 population-based cancer registries [CRs]), provided by the project 'surveillance of rare cancers in Europe' (RARECARE) is used to describe the basic indicators of incidence, prevalence and survival of NETs, giving a unique overview on the burden of NETs in Europe. NETs at all cancer sites, excluding lung, were analysed in this study.

Comparison of treatment outcome in metastatic colorectal cancer patients included in a clinical trial versus daily practice in The Netherlands.

The external validity of trial results is a matter of debate, and no strong evidence is available to support whether a trial may have a positive or a negative effect on the outcome of patients. Methods. We compared the results of stage IV colorectal cancer patients treated within a large Dutch phase III trial (CAIRO), in which standard chemotherapy and standard safety eligibility criteria were used, to patients treated outside the trial during the trial accrual period in a representative selection of 29 Dutch hospitals.