Abstract
Aim: We have analysed the effect of co-cancer morbidity on the mortality in subjects with malignant mesothelioma(MM) in the Danish Cancer Registry (DCR).
Methods:The DCR has data on cancer diagnosis in Denmark. Cancers are classified according to the international Classification of Diseases ICD-0 for the period 1943 – 1977 and ICD-10 for the period 1978 – to now. DCR has been found to be 95%-98% complete and valid. We identified patients with MM, the disease localisation and previous cancer in MM patients. Civil Registration System (CRS) provided information on date of birth, sex, marital status and date of death. Person-years at risk were computed from the date of diagnosis until the date of death, emigration or the 28th of January 2013, wichever came first. Study outcome was time to death.
Results: We identified 3638 patients with MM in pleura or peritoneum diagnosed between 1943 and 2011. Of these, 267 patients were previously diagnosed with cancer. For these 267 patients there was no association between the localization of MM and that of previous cancer. Previous cancer was associated with an increased mortality in MM patients with a MRR of 1.15 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01 - 1.31). Median survival in MM patients with previous cancer was 0.38 years (95% CI: 0.30 – 0.54 years) compared to a median survival of 0.50 years (95% CI: 0.46 – 0.53 years) in patients without previous cancer. Colon cancer N = 13 (MRR: 2.13 (95% CI: 1.23 - 3.68)), N = 4 lung cancer (MRR: 3.42 (95% CI: 1.28 - 9.13)) and leukemia N = 15 (MRR: 1.78 (95% CI: 1.05 - 3.01)) were associated with increased mortality.
Conclusion: Co-cancer morbidity in patients with MM reduces the median survival.
- © 2014 ERS