Trends in probabilities of death owing to cancer and owing to other causes in patients with colon cancer.

BACKGROUND

It is of interest to both the clinicians and patients to estimate the probability of death owing to cancer in the presence of other causes as time elapses since diagnosis. The objective of this study was to depict for patients diagnosed with colon cancer between 1990 and 2010 in France, the probability of surviving up to 10 years after diagnosis and to disentangle the probability of death owing to cancer from that of death owing to other causes.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Individuals with cancer were described, up to 10 years after diagnosis, as belonging to one of three categories: those who died owing to a cause related to cancer, those who died owing to another cause and those who survived. Net survival, crude probabilities of death related to colon cancer, death related to another cause and survival were estimated by modeling excess mortality hazard.

RESULTS

In women of all ages, 5 and 10-year net survival improved over calendar time. The 10-year probability of survival decreased when age increased in both sexes. It was higher in women than in men, and this difference increased with age. Crude probabilities of death related to colon cancer decreased between 1990 and 2010 for men and women, although this was not observed in the eldest men.

CONCLUSION

Crude probability of death related to colon cancer is an important indicator for patients and health policy makers. Results of cancer screening should be faced to trends in probability of death related to colorectal cancer.