ED-04 * SURVIVAL RATES AMONG CANADIAN PATIENTS WITH PRIMARY MALIGNANT BRAIN TUMOURS: AN ANALYSIS BASED ON STATISTICS CANADA DATA, 1992-2010

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There is little information availableon brain tumour survival among the Canadian population. The objective is to investigate patterns of survival among patients with malignant brain tumours in Canada by province/territory, age at diagnosis, histology, and time period. We aim to examine whether outcomes have improved over time and whether they are consistent with those reported in the US. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from the Canadian Cancer Registry are available through Statistics Canada. Data on all primary brain tumours diagnosed between 1992-2010 have been requested for analysis. Analysis will be restricted to patients with no previous history of cancer and no subsequent development of second primaries. Survival curves will be estimated where there are at least 20 events to provide precision to the estimates given that these are rare tumours. Overall and stratified survival rates (1, 2, 5 and 10 year) by province/territory, age at diagnosis, histology and time period and 95% confidence intervals will be estimated. Standard Kaplan Meier and Proportional Hazards survival analysis techniques will be performed to calculate survival curves, using SAS software. RESULTS: New information to health care providers and decision makers will be presented. CONCLUSION: These data will provide a pan-Canadian picture of primary malignant brain tumour survival over time; including overall and subgroup estimates which will be compared with published rates from the Central Brain Tumour Registry of the US. Identified areas for improvement will potentially influence brain tumour management.