All-cause and tumor-specific mortality trends in geriatric oligodendroglioma (OG) patients: A surveillance, epidemiology, and end results (SEER) analysis

Abstract

Recent efforts have been made to identify mortality risk factors in Oligodendroglioma (OG) patients, however, efforts have fallen short within the geriatric population. The purpose of this study was to identify mortality trends and risk factors within a geriatric cohort of patients with OGs. 762 cases (1973–2012, age at diagnosis 65+ years) within the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database were included. Variables were age at diagnosis, decade of diagnosis, sex, race and whether or not surgery was performed. All-cause mortality was identified prior to stratification, while tumor-specific mortality was identified after stratification of data by the SEER cause of death “Dead (attributable to this cancer dx)”. Before stratification, decade 4 and patients aged 65–74 years at diagnosis had the lowest mortality, while 85+ years had the highest. Furthermore, women had lower mortality than men and surgery performed resulted in lower mortality in the univariate, but not the multivariate analysis. Following stratification, however, multivariate analysis showed less mortality with surgery performed, but differences between decades and sex were no longer detected. Similarly, patients aged 65–74 years at diagnosis continued to have the lowest mortality, while 85+ years continued to have the highest. Although all-cause mortality decreased over time, tumor-specific mortality remained unchanged since 1973 for geriatric patients with OGs. This highlights the need for further research into new therapeutic strategies for this rapidly growing population.