BACKGROUND: Limited data exist on the burden of comorbidity among patients with squamous cell head and neck cancer (SCCHN) before and during cancer treatment. METHODS: The precancer prevalence and incidence rates of 8 comorbid conditions were estimted among a population-based cohort of 1499 patients with SCCHN in the Netherlands
Background. Data is limited on the burden of common comorbidities, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), respiratory disease and diabetes, or comorbidities related to cancer and its treatment, such as anemia and depression, in patients with soft tisue sarcoma (STS). Patients and Methods. From the Dutch Pathology Registry linked to the PHARMO database (including data on drug use and hospitalizations), 533 patients with STS were selected during 2000-2007 and matched 1 : 10 to cancer-free controls
BACKGROUND: An increasing need has developed for the post-approval surveillance of (new) anti-cancer drugs by means of pharmacoepidemiology and outcomes research in the area of oncology. OBJECTIVES: To create an overview that makes researchers awarof the available database linkages in Northern America and Europe which facilitate pharmacoepidemiology and outcomes research in cancer patients
OBJECTIVE: Numerous studies have suggested a decreased risk of cancer in patients with diabetes on metformin. Because different comparison groups were used, the effect magnitude is difficult to estimate. Therefore, the objective of this study was tfurther analyze whether, and to what extent, use of metformin is associated with a decreased risk of cancer in a cohort of incident users of metformin compared with users of sulfonylurea derivatives
Aim: As comorbidities may impact treatment decisions, prognoses and quality of care, this study determined the rate of comorbid cardiovascular diseases in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Methods: From the PHARMO Record Linkage Sytem in The Netherlands, all patients with a hospital discharge code for CRC and distant metastasis from 2000-2008 were selected
AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Several publications suggest an association between certain types of insulin and cancer, but with conflicting results. We investigated whether insulin glargine (A21Gly,B31Arg,B32Arg human insulin) is associated with an increased rik of cancer in a large population-based cohort study
We studied the occurrence of myocardial infarction (MI), ischaemic stroke (IS) and pulmonary embolism (PE) before and after breast cancer hospitalisation compared with cancer-free controls. For this, women with a first breast cancer hospitalisationduring 2000-2007 were selected from the PHARMO Record Linkage System, including drug use and hospitalisations of three million inhabitants in the Netherlands, and matched 1:10 by age to cancer-free women
BACKGROUND: In the last decade, the number of new agents, including monoclonal antibodies, being developed to treat metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) increased rapidly. While improving outcomes, these new treatments also have distinct and known sfety profiles with toxicities that may require hospitalizations
The question has been raised whether hyperprolactinemia in humans is associated with an excess risk for breast cancer. We aimed to assess the risk of breast cancer in a previously defined large cohort of patients treated for idiopathic hyperprolactnemia or prolactinomas. Based on the pattern of drug prescriptions we identified 11,314 subjects in the PHARMO network with at least one dispensing of dopamine agonists between 1996 and 2006
Observational studies on long-term endocrine treatment among breast cancer patients have presented discontinuation rates on tamoxifen, but lack information on the continuance of any endocrine treatment [both tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors (AIs)within the same cohort. In this study we determined switching rates from tamoxifen to AIs, discontinuation rates of tamoxifen only, discontinuation rates of any endocrine treatment and determinants of first treatment switch and treatment discontinuation
