Time trends in chemotherapy (administration and costs) and relative survival in stage III colon cancer patients – a large population-based study from 1990 to 2008

Figures & data

Table I. Patient characteristics.

	< 60 years	%	60–70 years	%	70–80 years	%	≥ 80 years	%	p-value
Sex									< 0.001
Male	2621	50.9	3420	53.7	3730	47.1	1564	33.5
Female	2524	49.1	2943	46.3	4198	52.9	3111	66.5
Period									0.7
1990–1996	1532	29.8	1881	29.6	2341	29.5	1415	30.3
1997–2002	1647	32.0	2000	31.4	2579	32.5	1455	31.1
2003–2008	1966	38.2	2482	39.0	3008	38.0	1805	38.6
Grade									< 0.001
I	339	6.6	450	7.1	473	6.0	270	5.7
II	3193	62.1	4078	64.1	4950	62.4	2752	58.9
III	1197	23.3	1394	21.9	1912	24.1	1303	27.9
Unknown	416	8.1	441	6.9	593	7.5	350	7.5
Anatomical location									< 0.001
Proximal	2301	44.7	3081	48.4	4399	55.5	2895	61.9
Distal	2742	53.3	3170	49.8	3397	42.8	1697	36.3
NOS*	102	2.0	112	1.8	132	1.7	83	1.8
T-stage									< 0.001
1	66	1.3	73	1.2	61	0.8	41	0.9
2	385	7.5	487	7.6	589	7.4	274	5.9
3	3875	75.3	4787	75.2	5904	74.5	3416	73.1
4	805	16.6	997	15.7	1351	17.0	932	19.9
Unknown	14	0.3	19	0.3	23	0.3	12	0.2
N-stage									< 0.001
1	3589	69.8	4520	71.0	5796	73.1	3453	73.9
2	1435	27.9	1706	26.8	1986	25.1	1123	24.0
3	121	2.3	137	2.2	146	1.8	99	2.1
Chemotherapy									< 0.001
Yes	3775	73.4	4066	63.9	2822	35.6	142	3.0
No	1370	26.6	2297	36.1	5106	64.4	4533	97.0
Total	5145	21.3	6363	26.4	7928	32.88	4675	19.4

*Not otherwise specified and unknown location.

Figure 1. Percentage of chemotherapy given per age group.

Table II. Type of chemotherapy in 1990, 1999, and 2008 per age group.

	No. of patients in 1990 (% of chemo)	No. of patients in 1999 (% of chemo)	No. of patients in 2008 (% of chemo)
Total no. of patients < 60 years	185	271	338
5-FU*	41 (22.2%)	229 (84.5%)	7 (2.0%)
FOLFOX-4	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (15.7%)
CapOX	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	222 (65.7%)
Capecitabine mono	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (8.9%)
Total no. of patients with chemotherapy	41 (22.2%)	229 (84.5%)	312 (92.3%)
Total no. of patients 60–69 years	251	322	504
5-FU*	32 (12.8%)	235 (73%)	10 (2.0%)
FOLFOX-4	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	72 (14.2%)
CapOX	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	276 (54.8%)
Capecitabine mono	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	68 (13.5%)
Total no. of patients with chemotherapy	32 (12.8%)	235 (73%)	426 (84.5%)
Total no. of patients 70–79 years	284	477	563
5-FU*	12 (4.2%)	162 (34%)	20 (3.5%)
FOLFOX-4	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	46 (8.2%)
CapOX	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	125 (22.2%)
Capecitabine mono	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	140 (24.9%)
Total no. of patients with chemotherapy	12 (4.2%)	162 (34%)	331 (58.8%)
Total no. of patients ≥ 80 years	190	271	357
5-FU*	1 (0.5%)	10 (3.7%)	4 (1.1%)
FOLFOX-4	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)
CapOX	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.1%)
Capecitabine mono	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (3.4%)
Total no. of patients with chemotherapy	1 (0.5%)	10 (3.7%)	20 (5.6%)
Total no. of patients in each year with chemotherapy	86 (9.5%)	636 (47.4%)	1089 (61.8%)

*5-FU in combination with folinic acid

Figure 2. Changes of total costs of chemotherapy over time.

Figure 3. Relative survival over time per age group, with multivariable relative survival per age group in the table.