Impact of Nonappendiceal Cancer-Specific Death on Overall Survival: A Competing Risk Analysis

Abstract

Aim: The occurrence of nonappendiceal cancer-specific death (non-ACSD) and its impact on overall survival are unclear. Methods: Patients were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results. Results: Nearly 33.2 and 24.0% patients suffered ACSD and non-ACSD. In a Cox proportional-hazards model, unmarried patients were at greater risk of mortality than were married patients. In a competing risk model, unmarried patients were at greater risk of non-ACSD than were married patients, but the risk of ACSD did not differ significantly according to marriage status. Conclusion: The overall survival of patients with appendiceal cancer was reduced by non-ACSD. A competing risk model was more predictive of the prognosis than was a Cox proportional hazards model.

Keywords::

• appendiceal cancer
• competing risk
• nonappendiceal cancer-specific death
• prognosis
• SEER database

Supplementary data

To view the supplementary data that accompany this paper please visit the journal website at: www.tandfonline.com/doi/suppl/10.2217/fon-2019-0178

Author contributions

J Wu and D Man contributed in study concept and design, acquisition of data, statistical analysis, and drafting of the manuscript. K Wang contributed in statistical analysis. L Li contributed in study concept and design, and critical manuscript revision.

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the efforts of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program registries in providing high quality open resources for researchers.

Financial&competing interests disclosure

This study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81790631, 81570512), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC2000500) and Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province, China (LQ19H030007). The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

The data accessed from SEER are freely available and do not require approval from an institutional review board or ethics committee. No personal identifying information was used in the current study; therefore, we did not require any informed consent.

Additional information

Funding

This study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81790631, 81570512), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC2000500) and Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province, China (LQ19H030007). The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.