Comparison of cancer registry and clinical data as predictors for breast cancer survival.

摘要

BACKGROUND: In spite of the increasing amount of clinically relevant information for survival from breast cancer, the amount of data recorded in a population-based cancer registry is limited and the registry-based survival predictions are routinely made without clinical details. OBJECTIVE: To find out how important is the role of screening and clinical tumor characteristics in addition to cancer registry information in describing the breast cancer survival. METHODS: A representative clinical database on 483 breast cancer patients diagnosed during 1996-1997 in Tampere University Hospital Area was linked with Finnish Cancer Registry data and a survival model including the available registry variables was compared to models including screen-detection information and clinical tumor characteristics also. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Estimates of registry stage and age act as surrogates for clinical variables and mammography-detection. The surrogacy was found to be almost complete indicating that clinical variables are not necessarily needed when making breast cancer mortality predictions based on a population-based cancer registry. In cases with dissimilar staging cancer registry stage gave a better picture of the breast cancer survival than the clinical stage.