Prevalence of prior cancer in patients with newly diagnosed cancer

By Matthew Stenger

Published: 07/11/2023 09:50:00

Last update: 07/11/2023 11:59:46

In an analysis of surveillance, epidemiology and endline (SEER) data reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Caitlin C. Murphy, PhD, MPHand colleagues found that a significant proportion of patients diagnosed with incident cancer in 2019 had a history of previous cancer diagnosis.

Caitlin C. Murphy, PhD, MPH

Study details

Data from the SEER database were analyzed to determine the history of cancer, of the same type or a different type, in patients aged ≥ 18 years old diagnosed with incident cancer in 2019. In a previous study, the investigators found 18.4% of patients newly diagnosed with cancer from 2009 to 2013 had previously been diagnosed with cancer.

Main conclusions

Of the 135,117 people diagnosed with incident cancer in 2019 in the SEER database, 108,940 (80.6%) had no prior cancer and 26,177 (19.4%) had no prior cancer . Among people who had already had cancer, 2,539 (1.9%) had cancer of the same type; 11,629 (8.6%) with cancer of a different type; and 12,009 (8.9%) with cancer of unknown type.

Previous cancer of a different type was more common in patients aged ≥65 years (14.1%, 95% CI = 13.8% to 14.4%) compared to those aged 18 to 49 years (1. 6%, 95% CI = 1.4% to 1.8%); men (10.3%, 95% CI = 10.1% to 10.6%) vs women (8.9%, 95% CI = 8.7% to 9.2%); and white patients (11.0%, 95% CI = 10.8% to 11.2%) vs black patients (5.7%, 95% CI = 5.2% to 6.1%).

The results regarding the prevalence of prior cancer were generally similar in the groups of patients with the five most common incident cancers (breast, colorectal, lung and prostate cancers in women, and melanoma).

Patients diagnosed with incident local vs. distant stage cancers were more likely to have previous cancer of a different type among those with colorectal cancer (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.11–1.60) and lung cancer (adjusted OR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.41–1.79).

The investigators said: “The increase in the number of people newly diagnosed with cancer in the United States (from 1,618,263 in 2013 to 1,737,969 in 2019), combined with the increasing prevalence of a previous cancer (from 18 .4% in a previous study to 19.4%), show an increase of about 15% in the number of cancer survivors diagnosed with a new cancer in 6 years… Recommendations against excluding patients from clinical trials only on basis of a previous cancer are supported by growing evidence that people newly diagnosed with cancer who survived a previous cancer of a different type have equivalent survival compared to those without a previous cancer.

Dr. Murphy, of UTHealth Houston School of Public Healthis the corresponding author for the JAMA Oncology article.

Disclosure: The study was supported by the National Cancer Institute, the Texas Institute for Cancer Prevention and Research, and others. For full disclosures from the study authors, visit jamnetwork.com.

The content of this article has not been reviewed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) and does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of ASCO®.

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