The Utility of Pathology Reports to Identify Persons With Cancer Recurrence

Bibliographic Data

ID9100997
AuthorsJoan L Warren (0000-0002-6467-6769, National Cancer Institute, corresponding author), Anne-Michelle Noone (National Cancer Institute, corresponding author), Jennifer Stevens (0000-0001-9837-0031, Information Management Services, Calverton, MD), Xiao-Cheng Wu (Louisiana Tumor Registry, School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA), Mei-chin Hsieh (Louisiana Tumor Registry, School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA), Brent J Mumphrey (Louisiana Tumor Registry, School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA), Rodney Schmidt (0000-0003-0863-7578, Efficient Pathology LLC, Seattle, WA), Linda Coyle (Information Management Services, Calverton, MD), Rusty Shields (Information Management Services, Calverton, MD), Angela B Mariotto (0000-0003-2423-1834, National Cancer Institute, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume60
Issue1
Pages44-49
Publication date2022-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMedical Care (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0025-7079 • E-ISSN: 1537-1948
PublisherOvid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1097/mlr.0000000000001669
PMID34812787
OpenAlexW3217754000
LanguageEN
References cited15

BACKGROUND: Cancer recurrence is an important measure of the impact of cancer treatment. However, no population-based data on recurrence are available. Pathology reports could potentially identify cancer recurrences. Their utility to capture recurrences is unknown. OBJECTIVE: This analysis assesses the sensitivity of pathology reports to identify patients with cancer recurrence and the stage at recurrence. SUBJECTS: The study includes patients with recurrent breast (n=214) or colorectal (n=203) cancers. RESEARCH DESIGN: This retrospective analysis included patients from a population-based cancer registry who were part of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) Study, a project that followed cancer patients in-depth for 5 years after diagnosis to identify recurrences. MEASURES: Information abstracted from pathology reports for patients with recurrence was compared with their PCOR data (gold standard) to determine what percent had a pathology report at the time of recurrence, the sensitivity of text in the report to identify recurrence, and if the stage at recurrence could be determined from the pathology report. RESULTS: One half of cancer patients had a pathology report near the time of recurrence. For patients with a pathology report, the report's sensitivity to identify recurrence was 98.1% for breast cancer cases and 95.7% for colorectal cancer cases. The specific stage at recurrence from the pathology report had a moderate agreement with gold-standard data. CONCLUSIONS: Pathology reports alone cannot measure population-based recurrence of solid cancers but can identify specific cohorts of recurrent cancer patients. As electronic submission of pathology reports increases, these reports may identify specific recurrent patients in near real-time

Anatomical pathology · Cancer · Cancer recurrence · Measure (data warehouse) · MEDLINE · Breast Cancer Treatment Studies · Colorectal Cancer Screening and Detection · Global Cancer Incidence and Screening

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