PCN114 Investigating Secular Trends in the Survival of Melanoma Patients in England

Abstract

Understanding survival through use of population level cancer registry data can help to describe standards of care, identify unmet need and understand changes in the therapeutic landscape. We assessed the availability of such data from Public Health England (PHE) to study malignant melanoma survival in England. De-identified cancer registry data were obtained from PHE after NHS ethics committee approval. Survival was estimated in a cohort of patients diagnosed with malignant melanoma in England from 1995 to 2016. The data included numerous clinical characteristics (e.g. tumour site, cancer morphology, behaviour, T,N,M and pathological stage) and an indicator of socioeconomic status (SES). Primary endpoints measured from time of diagnosis, were one-year overall survival (OS) and one-year relative survival (RS) relative to the total population of England (1995 to 2016). One-year OS by disease stage and SES was also investigated. Data were available for 184,864 melanoma patients. Disease stage was missing in 57% of patients (79% between 1995 and 2011, and 13% between 2012 and 2016). No information was available on relevant behaviours such as smoking. In the overall population, average one-year OS and RS were high (94% and 97% respectively). Between 1995 and 2016, one-year OS and RS increased from 92% to 95%, and from 95% to 99% respectively. The average OS for Stage I, II, III and IV melanoma was 99%, 94%, 90% and 48% respectively. Probability of survival was also higher with greater SES (95% versus 92% for the highest and lowest quintile). England’s PHE data provides a useful resource to study trends in melanoma survival over time, with rich clinical detail. While it is limited by high levels of missing data on disease stage in earlier years, it nevertheless provides a robust source of data to understand population level disease epidemiology.