Highcare: HIGH resolution project on prognosis and CARE of cancer patients
Cancer survival inequalities documented by EUROCARE need to be explained by Population Based Cancer Registry (CR) High Resolution (HR) studies that capture innovation in cancer diagnosis and treatment and investigate whether co-morbidities influence outcome and treatments.
Main aim
Study influence of patterns of care and co-morbidities on clinical outcomes in breast (BC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) patients diagnosed in 2011-14 in some EU areas.
Specific aims
Investigate influence of co-morbidity on treatment choice, adhesion to clinical guidelines, relapse and disease-free survival and their association with BC and CRC prognostic characteristics.
Additional aim
CRs possibility to access biobanks in their areas are piloted through the validation of a plasma derived microRNA signature.
Design & Work Plan
CRs recruiting a sample of at least 500 cases per tumour site, abstract information on stage, diagnostic exams, morphology and bio-molecular subtype, treatment, co-morbidity and follow-up, from clinical records (as with HR study protocols).
Behind data submission, data management and quality check procedures are centralized, and both descriptive and multivariable survival analyses are carried out.
In addition, a plasma-based microRNA signature predictive of distant metastatization in early stage BC are validated using biobanks in partners areas.
As regards the study organisation, the project is coordinated by the Analytical Epidemiology and Health Impact Unit at the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori and organised in 4 work packages.
The research consortium includes CRs with past experience in HR studies, 1 basic research and 2 clinical teams, epidemiologists, public health experts.