Incidence
The number or rate (per head of population) of new cases of a disease diagnosed in a given population during a specified time period (usually a calendar year). The crude rate is the total number of cases divided by the mid-year population, usually expressed per 100,000 population (see also age-standardised rate).
Malignant
Malignant tumours which grow by invasion into surrounding tissues and have the ability to metastasise to distant sites
Non-malignant
Not cancerous. Nonmalignant tumours may grow larger but do not spread to other parts of the body.
Mortality
The number or rate (per head of population) of deaths in a given population during a specified time period (usually a calendar year). The crude rate is the total number of deaths divided by the mid-year population, usually expressed per 100,000 population (see also age-standardised rate).
Survival (crude)
The length of time from either the date of diagnosis or the start of treatment for a disease, such as cancer, that patients diagnosed with the disease are still alive. In a clinical trial, measuring the overall survival is one way to see how well a new treatment works. Also called OS.
Survival (net)
Net survival estimates the number of people who survive their cancer rather than calculating the number of people diagnosed with cancer who are still alive. In other words, it is the survival of cancer patients after taking into account the background mortality that they would have experienced if they had not had cancer.
If any of the statistcal terms in this section of the brainstrust website are hard to understand, we recommend looking them up here:
Cancer Research UK’s Cancer Statistics Explained
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/cancer-stats-explained/statistics-terminology-explained#heading-Seven
If you are looking for help understanding terms relating specifically to brain tumours, and treatment, then the brainstrust glossary is available here:
http://www.brainstrust.org.uk/advice-glossary.php
