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Clinical Outcomes at Fox Chase Cancer Center: Frequently Asked Questions
What types of hospitals are compared in the charts?
What do these charts tell me?
What do these charts NOT tell me?
Which patients are included in this data?
Why were these particular cancers selected?
Why does the data extend only through 2002?
Where does the data come from?
How do I read these charts?
What is meant by the term "five-year survival rate"?
Why was five-year survival used for these charts?
What is meant by the term "clinical outcomes"?
Why aren't charts for all cancers shown?
Questions? Please e-mail us at outcomes@fccc.edu or call 1-888-FOX-CHASE (1-888-369-2427).
Which hospitals’ outcomes are compared in the charts?
The charts compare outcomes for patients treated at Fox Chase, a federally designated comprehensive cancer center, to those treated at two types of community-hospital cancer programs, which are distinguished based on level of service and patient volume. (Hospital categories are defined by the National Cancer Data Base, source of the outcomes data.)
Fox Chase Cancer Center is a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, meaning that it engages in both basic and clinical research, in addition
to patient care, and meets peer-reviewed standards. It sees about 33,000 patients each year and provides a full range of diagnostic and treatment services.Community hospital comprehensive cancer programs diagnose and/or treat 650 or more cases each year. They provide a full range of services for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, either onsite or by referral, and also conduct clinical research.
Community hospital cancer programs diagnose and/or treat 100 to 649 cases each year. They provide a full range of diagnostic and treatment services, but patients often need to be referred elsewhere for part of their treatment.
What do these charts tell me?
The charts show the overall survival rates, year by year for five years from diagnosis, of groups of patients with the indicated type and stage of cancer. They compare those treated at Fox Chase to those treated at large and small community-hospital cancer programs.
What do these charts NOT tell me?
The data reflects results among particular groups of patients; it does not predict the course of individual cases. Nor does it account for factors such as gender or age at diagnosis—which can affect outcomes—or differences in hospitals’ methods of categorizing cancer stages.
Which patients are included in this data?
Only patients with a single cancer diagnosis who received all or part of their first course of therapy at Fox Chase or the relevant community hospital were included; patients who received treatment elsewhere before coming to Fox Chase were not included. (For that reason, the number of Fox Chase patients represented on each chart may be much smaller than the total number treated at Fox Chase for that type of cancer.)
Why were these particular cancers selected?
Breast, colon, lung, and prostate cancer are among the most common cancers in the United States, and the most often treated at the Center. Because the criteria for inclusion limit the number of patients who qualify (see above), Fox Chase determined that it treated too few qualifying patients to publish useful results for other cancers at this time. The Center plans to publish additional data as it becomes available.
Why does the data extend only through 2002?
The charts reflect survival rates for patients diagnosed between 1998 and 2002 and followed for five years. At the time the data was generated, 2002 was the most recent year for which five-year follow-up information was available. Fox Chase plans to publish new data as it becomes available.
Where does the data come from?
The data for the charts is provided by the National Cancer Data Base, one of the most comprehensive cancer databases in the country. A program of the Commission on Cancer and the American Cancer Society, it records data for 1,400 Commission-accredited cancer programs in the United States and Puerto Rico. It is maintained by the American College of Surgeons.
How do I read these charts?
Time is shown in years as you read across the chart from left to right. The percentage of people still living at a given time is shown as you read from top to bottom. For example, for a patient with Stage I/II prostate cancer, at five years the average survival rate of the Fox Chase Cancer Center patients is 94.1%. On the same chart, you can compare this with the large community hospital national average of 89.2%. More on reading the charts
What is meant by the term "five-year survival rate"?
Five-year survival rate is the percentage of people in a group who are alive five years after they were diagnosed with or treated for a disease, such as cancer. Survival rates reflect death from any cause, so some of these patients may have died from causes not related to their cancer.
Why was a five-year survival rate used for these charts?
We use the five-year survival rate because it is most often reported in research and in the press.
What is meant by clinical outcomes?
Clinical outcomes are the resulting health status of patients following the care they have received. For these charts, clinical outcomes are represented in terms of survival rates.
Why aren't charts for all cancers shown?
The charts on these pages reflect outcomes for adult patients with only one diagnosis of cancer who received all or part of their first course of therapy at Fox Chase Cancer Center or the comparison hospitals. With these limitations, there are some cancer stages for which Fox Chase does not see enough patients to show five-year survival rates. Survival rates were not shown for stages of cancers for which Fox Chase treated fewer than 30 such patients.
Still have questions? Email us at outcomes@fccc.edu.
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