Abstract
BackgroundMesothelioma is a highly fatal cancer that is caused by exposure to asbestos fibres. In many populations, the occurrence of mesothelioma is monitored with the use of mortality data from death certification. We examine certified causes of death of patients who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and assess the validity of death certification data as a proxy for mesothelioma incidence.MethodsWe extracted mesothelioma registrations in the South East of England area between 2000 and 2004 from the Thames Cancer Registry database. We retained for analysis 2200 patients who had died at the time of analysis, after having excluded seven dead cases where the causes of death were not known to the cancer registry. The 2200 deaths were classified hierarchically to identify (1) mesothelioma deaths, (2) deaths certified as lung cancer deaths or (3) deaths from unspecified cancer, and (4) deaths from other causes.Results87% of the patients had mesothelioma mentioned on the death certificate. 6% had no mention of mesothelioma but included lung cancer as a cause of death. Another 6% had no mention of mesothelioma or lung cancer, but included an unspecified cancer as a cause of death. Lastly, 2% had other causes of death specified on the death certificate.ConclusionThis analysis suggests that official mortality data may underestimate the true occurrence of mesothelioma by around 10%.
Highlights
Mesothelioma is a highly fatal cancer that is caused by exposure to asbestos fibres
We extracted the numbers of mesothelioma cancer registrations and mesothelioma deaths nationally for 2004 from the Cancer Information System (CIS), which provides cancer registration and cancer mortality data from the whole of England
Another 6% had no mention of mesothelioma or lung cancer, but included an unspecified cancer as a cause of death
Summary
Mesothelioma is a highly fatal cancer that is caused by exposure to asbestos fibres. 2001[3] and an epidemiological model that incorporated the historical use of asbestos suggested that the annual numbers of deaths will continue to rise to a peak at around 1950–2400 deaths per year in 2011–2015. The aim of this analysis was to examine the certified causes of death of patients diagnosed with mesothelioma, and assess the validity of mortality data as a proxy for data on mesothelioma incidence
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