Biomaterial Database

Methodological aspects on measurements of temporal trends in melanoma survival. 1994

R Bergström, and M Thörn, and H O Adami

Department of Statistics, Uppsala University, Sweden.

We compared measurements of temporal trends in cancer survival either based on observed survival or relative survival. Survival rates for cutaneous malignant melanoma diagnosed in Sweden 1960-1982 were used as an example. In a proportional hazards model based on observed survival, the hazard ratio for patients diagnosed during the period 1975-1979 was 0.56 (95% confidence limits 0.49-0.64) in men and 0.45 (0.38-0.53) in women when the period 1960-1964 was the reference. When relative survival was the outcome measure, during the same period, the hazard ratio decreased to 0.47 (0.39-0.56) in men and 0.36 (0.29-0.44) in women. Thus, the effect of period of diagnosis was larger when the analysis was based on relative survival rates. The reasons for the differences between these two alternative measurements are explained in the article and advantages/disadvantages of the two approaches are discussed.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008545	Melanoma	A malignant neoplasm derived from cells that are capable of forming melanin, which may occur in the skin of any part of the body, in the eye, or, rarely, in the mucous membranes of the genitalia, anus, oral cavity, or other sites. It occurs mostly in adults and may originate de novo or from a pigmented nevus or malignant lentigo. Melanomas frequently metastasize widely, and the regional lymph nodes, liver, lungs, and brain are likely to be involved. The incidence of malignant skin melanomas is rising rapidly in all parts of the world. (Stedman, 25th ed; from Rook et al., Textbook of Dermatology, 4th ed, p2445)	Malignant Melanoma,Malignant Melanomas,Melanoma, Malignant,Melanomas,Melanomas, Malignant
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D012042	Registries	The systems and processes involved in the establishment, support, management, and operation of registers, e.g., disease registers.	Parish Registers,Population Register,Parish Register,Population Registers,Register, Parish,Register, Population,Registers, Parish,Registers, Population,Registry
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults
D000368	Aged	A person 65 years of age or older. For a person older than 79 years, AGED, 80 AND OVER is available.	Elderly
D012878	Skin Neoplasms	Tumors or cancer of the SKIN.	Cancer of Skin,Skin Cancer,Cancer of the Skin,Neoplasms, Skin,Cancer, Skin,Cancers, Skin,Neoplasm, Skin,Skin Cancers,Skin Neoplasm
D013548	Sweden	Country in northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Finland and Norway. The capital is Stockholm.