Lifetime risk
- Risk increases over time
- Differs amongst cancer types
Descriptive cancer epidemiology
- Why is it important
o Knowledge about trends in incidence and survival/mortality after cancer
o Can be used to develop, implement and evaluate effective policies for cancer control
(e.g. cancer screening, preventive measures, education health care personnel)
- Key epidemiological concepts
o Prevalence
▪ No. of people with cancer/population at risk
▪ At a certain moment in time
1
, ▪ E.g. 5-year prevalence at 1 January 2019 in the NL: all living cancer patients
who have been diagnoses in the previous 5 years in the NL
o Incidence
▪ No. of newly diagnosed cases of cancer/population at risk
▪ In a certain time period
▪ E.g. incidence in 2018 in the NL: number of newly diagnosed cancer cases in
2018 in the NL
▪ Number: absolute number of new cases in a certain period
▪ CR (crude rate): number of new cases per 100,000 persons per year
▪ ESR (European standardized rate): number of new cases per 100,000
persons per year, standardized for the age composition of Europe
▪ WSR (World standardized rate): number of new cases per 100,000 persons
per year, standardized for the age composition of the world
o Mortality
▪ No. of cases that died from cancer/population at risk
▪ In a certain time period
▪ E.g. mortality in 2018 in the NL: number of cases that died from cancer in
2018 in the NL
▪ Also expressed as number, CR, ESR, WSR (similar to incidence)
o Relative survival
▪ % of cancer cases alive/% of people of same age and sex expected to be
alive in the general population
▪ The percentage of cancer cases alive at a certain time period after diagnosis
(not including those who died from other diseases)
▪ E.g. 5-year relative survival: percentage of cancer cases who survived 5 years
Worldwide differences in cancer incidence
Cancer survival
- Depends on type of cancer and cancer stage
2
,Etiologic cancer epidemiology (risk factors)
- Age (most important)
o Time needed for accumulation of damage to daughter cells
o Mutations in regulatory genes
▪ Spontaneous
▪ Chemical substances
▪ Radiation
▪ Viruses
o Protective tools
▪ Repair of blueprint (DNA repair)
▪ Clean suicide (apoptosis)
▪ Mitosis stops (senescence)
o Cancer at older age
▪ Accumulation of damage/mutations in regulatory genes
▪ More damage to repair tools/repair tools less effective
▪ Less control by micro-environment
o ‘Grey’ pressure = number 65+ / number 20-64 → increasing
o Enormous public health problem
▪ Double ageing phenomenon → people have a longer life expectancy and we
get more elderly people → number of old people increases
▪ Better survival because of
• Early detection
• Improved treatment
▪ More expensive health care
• Diagnosis
• Treatment
▪ Focus on prevention!
- How to identify causes of cancer
o Accidental finding/keep alert
▪ Examples:
3
, • Nuns have high risk of breast cancer → high hormonal exposure
because they don’t get kids
• Radiology → X-ray related to cancer
• Radium poisoning of watch dial painters
o Systematic counting/trends
▪ Examples:
• Retinoblastoma → 1 hit/2 hit theory
• Migrant studies → environmental factors
are important
• Trend in melanoma → caused by more sun
exposure
o Focused research
▪ Human observational studies
• Design of a case-control study
• Design of a prospective cohort study
▪ Experimental studies
4
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller roos1397. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $6.43. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.