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.
Malignant
Malignant tumours which grow by invasion into surrounding tissues and have the ability to metastasise to distant sites
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.
Non-malignant
Not cancerous. Non-malignant tumours may grow larger but do not spread to other parts of the body.
Survival
The length of time from the date of diagnosis for a disease, such as cancer, that patients diagnosed with the disease are still alive. In a clinical trial, measuring the survival is one way to see how well a new treatment works. Also called ‘overall survival’ or ‘OS’.
Routes to Diagnosis
Under the ‘Routes to Diagnosis’ tab in the Brain Tumour Data Dashboard, you can explore the ways patients have been diagnosed with brain tumours. There are many ways, or routes, for cancers to be diagnosed in the NHS. A ‘route to diagnosis’ is the series of events between a patient and the healthcare system that leads to a diagnosis of cancer. The routes include:
- Two Week Wait
Patients are urgently referred by their GP for suspected cancer via the Two Week Wait system and are seen by a specialist within 2 weeks where they are diagnosed.
- GP referral
Diagnosis via a GP referral includes routine and urgent referrals where the patient was not referred under the Two Week Wait system.
- Emergency Presentation
Cancers can be diagnosed via emergency situations such as via A&E, emergency GP referral, emergency transfer or emergency admission.
- Outpatient
Outpatient cancer diagnoses include diagnoses via an elective route which started with an outpatient appointment that is either a self-referral or consultant to consultant referral. (It does not include those under the Two Week Wait referral system).
- Inpatient elective
Diagnosis via an inpatient elective route is where diagnosis occurs after the patient has been admitted into secondary care from a waiting list, or where the admission is booked or planned.
- Death Certificate Only
Diagnoses made by Death Certificate Only are made where there is no more information about the cancer diagnosis other than the cancer related death notifications. The date of diagnosis is the same as that of the date of death.
- Unknown
For some patients with a cancer diagnosis, there is no relevant data available to understand the route to diagnosis.
More information
If any of the statistical 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:
https://www.brainstrust.org.uk/advice-glossary.php
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