Single-centre study reports a 84% five-year overall survival rate for paediatric solid tumours.

AIM: We investigated the characteristics and outcome of paediatric patients with solid tumours diagnosed and treated at the Tampere University Hospital, one of the five tertiary referral centres in Finland, for children and adolescents with malignancies. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study collected data from hospital medical records on survival, diagnosis, age, sex, tumour size and stage at diagnosis. We also observed the disease recurrence and use of autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Data analyses were carried out with the Kaplan-Meier method, various nonparametric and parametric tests, and Cox regression modelling. RESULTS: Between 1987 and May 2015, 424 children (59% boys), with a median age of 6.4 (IQR 2.5-11.8) years at diagnosis, were diagnosed and followed up for a median of 7.5 (range 0-27.9) years. Central nervous system (CNS) tumours were the most common (38%), followed by lymphomas (19%), soft tissue sarcomas (10%), renal tumours (9%) and neuroblastomas (9%). The five-year overall survival rate of all solid tumour patients was 84% (95% CI, 81-88%), 82% (95% CI, 76-89%) for CNS and 85% (95% CI, 80-90%) for non-CNS tumours. Advanced tumour stage at diagnosis predicted a poor prognosis. CONCLUSION: The treatment results in our study are comparable with those previously published. A comprehensive local database allows for a timely follow-up of the characteristics and quality of treatment of childhood malignancies.

Development of a research dedicated archival system (TARAS) in a university hospital.

Recent healthcare policies have influenced the manner in which patient data is handled in research projects, and the regulations concerning protected health information have become significantly tighter. Thus, new procedures are needed to facilitate research while protecting the confidentiality of patient data and ensuring the integrity of clinical work in the expanding environment of electronic files and databases. We have addressed this problem in a university hospital setting by developing the Tampere Research Archival System (TARAS), an extensive data warehouse for research purposes. This dynamic system includes numerous integrated and pseudonymized imaging studies and clinical data. In a pilot study on asthma patients, we tested and improved the functionality of the data archival system. TARAS is feasible to use in retrieving, analyzing, and processing both image and non-image data. In this paper, we present a detailed workflow of the implementation process of the data warehouse, paying special attention to administrative, ethical, practical, and data security concerns. The establishment of TARAS will enhance and accelerate research practice at Tampere University Hospital, while also improving the safety of patient information as well as the prospects for national and international research collaboration. We hope that much can be learned from our experience of planning, designing, and implementing a research data warehouse combining imaging studies and medical records in a university hospital.