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M. Slabbaert



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    P3.03 - Poster Session with Presenters Present (ID 473)

    • Event: WCLC 2016
    • Type: Poster Presenters Present
    • Track: Mesothelioma/Thymic Malignancies/Esophageal Cancer/Other Thoracic Malignancies
    • Presentations: 1
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      P3.03-049 - Optimisation of Malignant Mesothelioma Registration at the Belgian Cancer Registry (ID 3907)

      14:30 - 14:30  |  Author(s): M. Slabbaert

      • Abstract

      Background:
      Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is a rare but aggressive cancer mostly caused by asbestos exposure, and for which diagnosis is difficult to make. Completeness and correctness of MM registration at the Belgian Cancer Registry (BCR) is assessed using information from three independent national databases, i.e. the standard cancer registration, the population-based mortality statistics (death certificates, COD) and the Belgian Mesothelioma Registry (BMR).

      Methods:
      The study cohort includes all MM diagnoses reported to BCR (incidence years 2004-2012; n=2,344), all patients reviewed by the pathology commission of BMR (2004-2012; n=2,019), and COD data for all Belgian citizens (2004-2013). All available data are compared for diagnosis and immunohistochemical (IHC) tests as derived from the available pathology reports (APD) at BCR or registered by BMR.

      Results:
      Preliminary analyses (n=1,927; 81% of the study cohort) showed that 94% of diagnoses were concordant between BCR and BMR. The proportion of MM without specified histological diagnosis (28% before project start) could be reduced to less than 1%. IHC results derived from APD and/or BMR were available for 86% of the cases. The most commonly performed markers were calretinin, CEA, CK5/6 and TTF1, as expected. Different IHC patterns could be distinguished in concordance with MM histology. MM was mentioned in 165 COD between 2004-2011 that remained uncoupled to BCR. For 139 patients registered at BCR with a different diagnosis, COD indicated MM as cause of death.

      Conclusion:
      This projects aims to achieve a complete and correct registration of MM diagnoses in Belgium by comparing information from three independent national databases. Discordant cases will be explored in detail and if necessary, a pathology revision will be performed. Once a definitive database is obtained, further analyses will be conducted including in-depth profiling of long-term survivors and description of treatment patterns for MM.