Exploratory analysis of a Brazilian real-world open database applied to prostate cancer

Abstract

Introduction. Prostate cancer was the second most frequent cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer death among men in 2020. The incidence rates vary substantially in countries with different Human Development Indexes (HDI), while the mortality rates decrease with improved access to the health system, availability of therapies and earlier detection. Worldwide, population-based cancer registries are important tools for planning and managing health systems. The Fundação Oncocentro de São Paulo (FOSP) is responsible to collect, clean and publicize data from cancer treatment institutions. This study aimed to describe retrospectively the demographic and clinical profile of prostate cancer (PC) in Brazil using this database. It is not an incidence study as data is representative only from specific institutions. Methods. This was a retrospective observational study of the years 2000 to 2020 from analysis of the publicly available FOSP database (http://www.fosp.saude.sp.gov.br). The records were extracted, merged, and cleaned using a fully documented and validated data process. Only patients included on the register with a primary PC diagnosis were considered. Results. From January 2010 to June 2020, there were 943,660 patients diagnosed with C61 in FOSP database for the considered time period. The majority of the FOSP database records are from patients who live and/or were born in SP (91.8 and 58.4%, respectively) orMG(2.8 and 10.5%, respectively). The mean age of PC at baseline was 69 years. Considering the stage of the disease, the mean ages are 55, 70, 67, 66 and 61, for stages 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. This cohort was also analyzed in relation to treatments received, and status at the end of treatment (51.3% are disease-free, 18.4% are alive with cancer, and 30.3% are dead). Conclusions. FOSP population-based cancer registries are a powerful tool to obtain information for planning, and improving the management of healthcare services especially for São Paulo.