ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer is a common cause of cancer death in Australia and is primarily managed operatively. Surgical databases are valuable in monitoring performance in cancer treatment and detecting problems and trends. METHODS: Diagnostic and treatment variables and short-term outcomes were gathered prospectively for patients undergoing resection for colorectal cancer over a 9-year period. Survival data were obtained by linkage to state and interstate death indices. RESULTS: Eight hundred and five patients underwent resection for colorectal cancer during the study period. Overall 5-year survival was 61%. Five-year cancer-specific survival was 73%. Five-year cancer-specific survival for Australian Clinico-Pathological Staging (ACPS) stages A, B, C and D was 96, 80, 61 and 19%, respectively (P < 0.0001). Emergency presentations showed diminished survival (59% versus 75%, P < 0.0001) after controlling for age and stage (hazard ratio (HR) 1.78, P= 0.005), as did transfusion recipients (63% versus 74%, P= 0.0014; HR 1.78, P= 0.004). Anastomotic leak did not affect survival in multivariable analysis. Non-cancer causes accounted for 26% deaths, primarily comprising cardiovascular deaths in the elderly. DISCUSSION: High case ascertainment, data completeness and accuracy can be obtained with prospective, independently gathered data linked electronically to national death records. Survival for colorectal cancer in South Australia continues to improve. Close follow-up for disease recurrence is warranted for transfusion recipients, emergencies and advanced disease. Locally managed databases with linkage to state registries and other institutions are powerful methods to improve data quality and surgical care at a national level.
Subject(s)
Colorectal Neoplasms/surgery , Databases, Factual , Registries , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Blood Transfusion/statistics & numerical data , Chemotherapy, Adjuvant , Colorectal Neoplasms/drug therapy , Colorectal Neoplasms/mortality , Colorectal Neoplasms/radiotherapy , Emergencies , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Guideline Adherence/statistics & numerical data , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Multivariate Analysis , Postoperative Complications/epidemiology , Practice Guidelines as Topic , Prospective Studies , Radiotherapy, Adjuvant , South Australia , Survival Analysis , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
Cancer-registry data for 710 patients, treated for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) at a South Australian teaching hospital between 1977 and 2000, gave a five-year disease-specific survival of 53%, which was similar to population based estimates for Australia, the USA, and Europe. This figure reduced with age at diagnosis from 69% for patients less than 40 years at diagnosis to 30% for those aged 80 years or more. Multivariable analysis indicated that older age was predictive of lower survival (p<0.001), after adjusting for grade (Working Formulation), Ann Arbor stage,bulk disease, B symptoms (weight loss, unexplained fever, night sweats), extra-lymphatic site involvement, and diagnostic period. No other clinical variable, when included in the model, affected the risk coefficient for age. Even among patients gaining complete remission following chemotherapy, the relative risk of death from NHL was 2.11(95% CL: 1.24, 3.57) for patients aged 70 years or more at diagnosis when compared with younger patients. We conclude that older patients have lower survivals not explained by established risk factors and that this also applies to patients who achieve complete remission following chemotherapy.
