Use of Period Analysis to Timely Assess Five-Year Relative Survival for Patients with Ovarian Cancer from Taizhou, Eastern China

Abstract

Objective: Ovarian cancer is a deadly gynecologic malignancy with a poor prognosis. It is essential to evaluate the early detection and screening programs of ovarian cancer via timely assessment of long-time survival, particularly in China where those data are incredibly limited. Here, we aimed to provide timely and accurately assessment of long-term survival estimate of ovarian cancer patients from eastern China. Methods: Data of 770 ovarian cancer patients diagnosed between 2004–2018 were obtained from four cancer registries in Taizhou, eastern China, were included. We used period analysis to calculate five-year relative survival (RS) of aforementioned ovarian cancer patients for overall and the stratification by age at diagnosis and region. Results: Our findings demonstrated that the overall five-year RS for ovarian cancer patients in Taizhou between 2014 and 2018 was 69.2%, while urban areas were higher compared to rural areas (77.6% vs. 64.9%). We also observed a significant age gradient with the five-year RS decreasing from 79.6% for age group 74 years. Furthermore, we identified a clear upward trend of five-year RS over the study period, both overall and stratified by region and age at diagnosis. Conclusion: This is the first study in China using period analysis to provide the most up-to-date five-year RS for ovarian cancer patients from Taizhou, eastern China, which reaches 69.2% during 2014–2018. Our results provide valuable information for timely assessment of early detection and screening programs for ovarian cancer in eastern China.

Keywords

• ovarian cancer
• five-year relative survival
• cancer registry
• period analysis
• eastern China