Deaths among patients with primary malignant brain tumors are on the rise in the United States, according to data presented in a poster at the Society for Neuro-Oncology 27th Annual Meeting.
Increases in mortality were low overall, but they were greatest for patients aged 15-39 years and for Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaskan Native patients.
For this study, researchers analyzed mortality data from the National Cancer for Health Statistics’ National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) and the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program.
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The team found that, during 2004-2018, the overall age-adjusted annual percent change (APC) in mortality among patients with primary malignant brain tumors was 0.3% in the NVSS cohort and 0.4% in the SEER cohort.
This increase in mortality was largely driven by patients aged 15-39 years. Among patients aged 0-14 years, the APC was -.01% in the NVSS cohort and 0% in the SEER cohort. Among patients aged 15-39 years, the APC was 0.4% and 0.9%, respectively. Among patients aged 40-64 years, the APC was 0% and 0.2%, respectively.
There were differences in mortality by sex between the cohorts. Among women in the NVSS cohort, the APC was 0.3% during 2004-2018. Among women in the SEER cohort, the APC was 0.6% during 2004-2016 and -3% during 2016-2018. Among men, the APC during 2004-2018 was 0.3% in both cohorts.
Increases in mortality were greatest for Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaskan Native patients. In this group, the APC was 1.6% in the NVSS cohort and 1% in the SEER cohort.
For Black patients, the APC was 0.7% in the NVSS cohort and 0.3% in the SEER cohort. For White patients, the APC was 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively.
“Mortality trends can provide critical information regarding which groups carry the highest burden of primary malignant BT [brain tumors] in the US, help to quantify the impact of recent advances in diagnosis and treatment of brain and CNS [central nervous system] tumors, and thereby aid in public health planning,” the researchers concluded.
Disclosures: This research was partially funded by Novocure. The study authors did not provide disclosures.
Reference
Thierheimer M, Cioffi G, Waite K, Kruchko C, Ostrom Q, Barnholtz-Sloan J. Mortality trends in primary malignant brain and central nervous system tumors vary by histopathology, age, race, and sex. Presented at SNO 2022; November 16-20, 2022. Abstract EPID-20.
