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Establishing a Competing Risk Regression Nomogram Model for Survival Data
Published on: October 23, 2020
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Partner status and survival after cancer: A competing risks analysis
Paramita Dasgupta1, Gavin Turrell2, Joanne F Aitken3
1Cancer Council Queensland, P.O. Box 201, Spring Hill, QLD 4004, Australia.
Cancer Epidemiology
|January 18, 2016
Summary
Cancer patients without a partner face significantly higher mortality risks from both cancer and other causes. This highlights the importance of social support in cancer survival and management.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Epidemiology
- Public Health
Background:
- The survival advantage associated with having a partner in cancer patients is recognized for all cancers combined.
- However, the prognostic impact of partner status on individual cancer types and competing mortality causes remains less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the impact of partner status on cancer-specific survival.
- To assess the influence of partner status on competing mortality causes.
Main Methods:
- Utilized population-based data from the Queensland Cancer Registry (1996-2012).
- Included 176,050 incident cases across ten leading cancer types.
- Employed flexible parametric competing-risks models, adjusting for age and stage, and stratifying by sex.
Main Results:
- Unpartnered individuals (males and females) exhibited a higher cumulative probability of death across all cancer sites compared to partnered individuals.
- Patients without a partner demonstrated increased mortality risk, with specific effects varying by cancer site, sex, and cause of death.
- For all sites combined, unpartnered males showed a 46% higher risk of cancer-specific mortality, 18% higher risk of other cancer mortality, and 44% higher risk of non-cancer mortality, with similar patterns observed in females. These risks persisted after adjusting for cancer stage.
Conclusions:
- Partner status significantly influences cancer patient survival, affecting both cancer-specific and competing mortality.
- Understanding the mechanisms behind the survival benefits of having a partner is crucial.
- This knowledge can inform improved cancer management strategies to support all cancer patients.
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