Cancer Registry Report Data

SNHMC 2007 Registry Report and 2006 Data Summary

New Cancer Cases: The American Cancer Society (ACS) has estimated 7,140 new cancer cases in New Hampshire for 2007, an increase of 9%. Of these, the ACS predicts 890 (-5%) new cases of breast cancer and 1050 (-12.5%) cases of prostate cancer. An estimated 1,399,790 (+3%) new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the US. See Table 1, below.

In 2006, a total of 414 (+13%) cases were initially diagnosed and/or treated at The Medical Center. Of these cases, 92% were from Hillsborough County. See Graph 1:

Graph 1

Sex, Age, Stage and Site: Graph 2 shows the Site and Age at Diagnosis.

AJCC Frequency by Site and Stage (Graph 3) shows that while breast cancer is being caught in the earlier stages, lung cancer still remains mostly in the later stage when diagnosed.

Graph 2

Graph 3

Note: Stage I cancers are small, localized cancers that are usually curable, while stage IV usually represents inoperable or metastatic cancer. Stage II and III cancers are usually locally advanced and/or with involvement of local lymph nodes. These definitions vary for each kind of cancer, and it is important to realize that the prognosis for a given stage also depends on what kind of cancer it is, so that a stage II non small cell lung cancer has a different prognosis from a stage II cervical cancer. “99” refers to cases where there is not enough information to stage, and “88” are those cases that may be benign but are required to be reported.

The highest incidences of cancer for 2006 at SNHMC are as follows, compared with the ACS estimated rates for the entire state of New Hampshire:

                                      SNHMC                        NH

Breast                         25.6%                        12.5%

Colo-Rectal                12.3%                       11.2%

Bronchus/Lung          17.6%                       14.3%

Skin                              4.3%                           5.0% melanoma only

Bladder                        4.1%                           5.0%

Prostate                       3.6%                         14.7%

Mortality: 16% of deaths at SNHMC were for patients with a diagnosis of cancer. The most common reported cancer in this group was colon/rectal. State estimates for 2007 predict 2,630 cancer deaths in NH. Of these, bronchus/lung cancer is estimated to account for 28% or 740 cases; colo-rectal cancer for 8% or 220 cases. See Table 1 (page 9) for a comparison of SNHMC and estimated state cancer rates by site.

Cancer Conference:  This is an educational meeting of multidisciplinary professionals. A consultative session where patient management is discussed, the Cancer Conference is also an educational opportunity for providers in attendance. Aspects of care are dedicated to improving cancer care and outcomes. A total of 89 cases were presented at Cancer Conference during 2006. The top five sites of breast, lung, colorectal, prostate and bladder represented 63% of cancer patients identified in 2006. More than 75% were presented prospectively, meaning that recently diagnosed cancer patients are focused upon, along with their radiology and pathology findings. Suggestions for management of their cancer treatment are also discussed. Two GYN Oncology specialty conferences were held in 2006.

Follow-up Rate on All Patients: 2006

SNHMC meets the standards set forth by The Commission on Cancer for follow-up on cancer registry patients. The CoC requires that all patients acquired in the cancer registry be followed for outcome. 80% of registry cases must be followed since the establishment of the registry in 1990, and 90% of registry cases from the last five years must be followed-up.