Understanding variations in survival for colorectal cancer in Europe: a EUROCARE high resolution study

BACKGROUND—Marked differences in population based survival across Europe were found for colorectal cancers diagnosed in 1985-1989.
AIMS—To understand the reasons for these differences in survival in a new analysis of colorectal cancers diagnosed between 1988 and 1991.
SUBJECTS—A total of 2720 patients with adenocarcinoma of the large bowel from 11 European cancer registries (CRs).
METHODS—We obtained information on stage at diagnosis, diagnostic determinants, and surgical treatment (not routinely collected by CRs) and analysed the data in relation to three year observed survival, calculating relative risks (RRs) of death and adjusting for age, sex, site, stage, and determinants of stage.
RE…