Feasibility of monitoring Global Breast Cancer Initiative Framework key performance indicators in 21 Asian National Cancer Centers Alliance member countries.

Background: The Global Breast Cancer Initiative (GBCI) Framework, launched by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2023, emphasises assessing, strengthening, and scaling up services for the early detection and management of breast cancer. This study aims to determine the feasibility of monitoring the status of breast cancer control in the 21 Asian National Cancer Centers Alliance (ANCCA) countries based on the three GBCI Framework key performance indicators (KPIs): stage at diagnosis, time to diagnosis, and treatment completion. Methods: We reviewed published literature on breast cancer control among 21 ANCCA countries from May to July 2023 to establish data availability and compiled the latest descriptive statistics and sources of the indicators using a standardised data collection form. We performed bivariate Pearson's correlation analysis to measure the strength of correlation between stage at diagnosis, mortality and survival rates, and universal health coverage. Findings: Only 12 (57%) ANCCA member countries published national cancer registry reports on breast cancer age-standardised incidence rate (ASIR) and age-standardised mortality rate (ASMR). Indonesia, Myanmar, and Nepal had provincial data and others relied on WHO's Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN) estimates. GLOBOCAN data differed from the reported national statistics by 5-10% in Bhutan, Indonesia, Iran, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Thailand and >10% in China, India, Malaysia, Mongolia, and Sri Lanka. The proportion of patients diagnosed in stages I and II strongly correlated with the five-year survival rate and with the universal health coverage (UHC) index. Three countries (14%) reported national data with >60% of invasive breast cancer patients diagnosed at stages I and II, and a five-year survival rate of >80%. Over 60% of the ANCCA countries had no published national data on breast cancer staging, the time interval from presentation to diagnosis, and diagnosis to treatment. Five (24%) countries reported data on treatment completion. The definition of delayed diagnosis and treatment completion varied across countries. Interpretation: GBCI's Pillar 1 KPI correlates strongly with five-year survival rate and with the UHC index. Most ANCCA countries lacked national data on cancer staging, timely diagnosis, and treatment completion KPIs. While institutional-level data were available in some countries, they may not represent the nationwide status. Strengthening cancer surveillance is crucial for effective breast cancer control. The GBCI Framework indicators warrant more detailed definitions for standardised data collection. Surrogate indicators which are measurable and manageable in country-specific settings, could be considered for monitoring GBCI indicators. Ensuring UHC and addressing health inequalities are essential to early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Funding: Funding for this research article's processing fee (APC) will be provided by the affiliated institution to support the open-access publication of this work. The funding body is not involved in the study design; collection, management, analysis and interpretation of data; or the decision to submit for publication. The funding body will be informed of any planned publications, and documentation provided.

Mapping recommendations towards an Asian Code Against Cancer (ACAC) as part of the World Code Against Cancer Framework: an Asian National Cancer Centers Alliance (ANCCA) initiative.

This paper outlines the process undertaken by Asian National Cancer Centers Alliance (ANCCA) members in working towards an Asian Code Against Cancer (ACAC). The process involves: (i) identification of the criteria for selecting the existing set of national recommendations for ACAC (ii) compilation of existing national codes or recommendations on cancer prevention (iii) reviewing the scientific evidence on cancer risk factors in Asia and (iv) establishment of one or more ACAC under the World Code Against Cancer Framework. A matrix of national codes or key recommendations against cancer in ANCCA member countries is presented. These include taking actions to prevent or control tobacco consumption, obesity, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, alcohol consumption, exposure to occupational and environmental toxins; and to promote breastfeeding, vaccination against infectious agents and cancer screening. ANCCA will continue to serve as a supportive platform for collaboration, development, and advocacy of an ACAC jointly with the International Agency for Research on Cancer/World Health Organization (IARC/WHO).

A Comparison between the Online Prognostic Tool PREDICT and myBeST for Women with Breast Cancer in Malaysia.

The PREDICT breast cancer is a well-known online calculator to estimate survival probability. We developed a new prognostic model, myBeST, due to the PREDICT tool's limitations when applied to our patients. This study aims to compare the performance of the two models for women with breast cancer in Malaysia. A total of 532 stage I to III patient records who underwent surgical treatment were analysed. They were diagnosed between 2012 and 2016 in seven centres. We obtained baseline predictors and survival outcomes by reviewing patients' medical records. We compare PREDICT and myBeST tools' discriminant performance using receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The five-year observed survival was 80.3% (95% CI: 77.0, 83.7). For this cohort, the median five-year survival probabilities estimated by PREDICT and myBeST were 85.8% and 82.6%, respectively. The area under the ROC curve for five-year survival by myBeST was 0.78 (95% CI: 0.73, 0.82) and for PREDICT was 0.75 (95% CI: 0.70, 0.80). Both tools show good performance, with myBeST marginally outperforms PREDICT discriminant performance. Thus, the new prognostic model is perhaps more suitable for women with breast cancer in Malaysia.

myBeST-A Web-Based Survival Prognostic Tool for Women with Breast Cancer in Malaysia: Development Process and Preliminary Validation Study.

Women with breast cancer are keen to know their predicted survival. We developed a new prognostic model for women with breast cancer in Malaysia. Using the model, this study aimed to design the user interface and develop the contents of a web-based prognostic tool for the care provider to convey survival estimates. We employed an iterative website development process which includes: (1) an initial development stage informed by reviewing existing tools and deliberation among breast surgeons and epidemiologists, (2) content validation and feedback by medical specialists, and (3) face validation and end-user feedback among medical officers. Several iterative prototypes were produced and improved based on the feedback. The experts (n = 8) highly agreed on the website content and predictors for survival with content validity indices ≥ 0.88. Users (n = 20) scored face validity indices of more than 0.90. They expressed favourable responses. The tool, named Malaysian Breast cancer Survival prognostic Tool (myBeST), is accessible online. The tool estimates an individualised five-year survival prediction probability. Accompanying contents were included to explain the tool's aim, target user, and development process. The tool could act as an additional tool to provide evidence-based and personalised breast cancer outcomes.

Colorectal cancer survival among Malaysia population: data from the Malaysian National Cancer Registry.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in men and women in Malaysia and poses a major burden on society. Aims: To determine the overall survival rate of patients diagnosed with CRC and factors contributing to survival. Methods: Data were obtained from the Malaysia National Cancer Registry. All patients with CRC were identified, and a total of 15,515 patients were screened. A total of 5,675 CRC patients were included from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2016. Sex, age groups, ethnic groups, stage at diagnosis, cancer sites, and status of treatment received were analysed. The Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed to estimate the 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival of CRC. The log-rank test was conducted to compare the survival between sex, age groups, ethnic groups, stage at diagnosis, cancer sites, and status of treatment received. Multiple Cox regression was conducted to determine the risk of CRC death. Results: Of 5,675, a total of 2,055 had died, 3,534 were censored, and another 86 were still alive within 5 years of CRC diagnosis. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 68.5%, 34.7%, and 18.4%, respectively with a median survival time of 24 months. Significant differences in survival rates of CRC were observed between age groups (p < 0.001), ethnic groups (p < 0.001), stages at diagnosis (p < 0.001), treatment status (p = 0.003), and treatment modalities (p < 0.001). No significant difference was observed in survival rates of CRC between sex (p = 0.235) and cancer sites (p = 0.410). Those who were 80 years old and above were found to be at higher risk of CRC death compared to those below 80 years old (adjusted hazard ratio (HR): 1.24, 95% CI 1.14-1.36). The risk of CRC death was also found four times higher among those with stage IV compared to those with stage 0 (adjusted HR: 4.28, 95% CI 3.26-5.62). Conclusion: In general, Malaysian patients with CRC had low survival rates. National health policies should focus on enhancing awareness of CRC, encouraging early screening, and developing strategies for early detection and management to reduce CRC-associated mortality.

Survival Rate and Prognostic Factors for Colorectal Cancer in Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia: A Retrospective Cohort of a Population-Based Study.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer is a major public health problem with significant number of cases and death in the population. This study aimed to determine the 5-year overall survival rate and the prognostic factors for colorectal cancer patients in Sabah. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted using secondary data from Malaysian National Cancer Registry (MNCR) database. A 5-year overall survival and the median survival time were determined with Kaplan-Meier survival curve. Cox regression analysis was done to determine the prognostic factors on survival. RESULTS: A total of 1,152 patients were included in this study. The majority of the patients had colon cancer and presented at late stage (stage III and IV) as compared to early stage (stage I and II). From the analysis, the 5-year overall survival for colorectal cancer was 23.2% (95% CI: 21.8, 24.6) and the median survival time was 16 months (95% CI: 14.3, 17.7).  Higher survivals are seen in males (23.6%, 95% CI: 20.4, 24.7), aged 50-74 years old (24.2%, 95% CI: 22.4, 26.0), Chinese (25.5%, 95% CI: 23.0, 28.0), lived in Keningau (25.6%, 95% CI: 20.8, 30.4), colon as primary tumor site (24.5%, 95% CI: 22.5, 26.4), diagnosed with stage I (55.6%, 95% CI: 48.7, 62.5) and received surgery with chemotherapy or radiotherapy (31.3%, 95% CI: 27.8, 34.8). The significant prognostic factor was the stage at diagnosis. Patients with stage IV colorectal cancer (HR: 11.18; 95% CI: 3.48, 35.93) had eleven times risk of dying as compared to stage I. CONCLUSION: The survival rate for colorectal cancer patients in Sabah was comparatively lower than other states in Malaysia and in some Asian countries. Those patients who presented at later stage had poorer survival. Health promotion and community-based screening program should be emphasized in addition to encouraging early diagnosis to improve survival.

Development of Predictive Models for Survival among Women with Breast Cancer in Malaysia.

Prediction of survival probabilities based on models developed by other countries has shown inconsistent findings among Malaysian patients. This study aimed to develop predictive models for survival among women with breast cancer in Malaysia. A retrospective cohort study was conducted involving patients who were diagnosed between 2012 and 2016 in seven breast cancer centres, where their survival status was followed until 31 December 2021. A total of 13 predictors were selected to model five-year survival probabilities by applying Cox proportional hazards (PH), artificial neural networks (ANN), and decision tree (DT) classification analysis. The random-split dataset strategy was used to develop and measure the models' performance. Among 1006 patients, the majority were Malay, with ductal carcinoma, hormone-sensitive, HER2-negative, at T2-, N1-stage, without metastasis, received surgery and chemotherapy. The estimated five-year survival rate was 60.5% (95% CI: 57.6, 63.6). For Cox PH, the c-index was 0.82 for model derivation and 0.81 for validation. The model was well-calibrated. The Cox PH model outperformed the DT and ANN models in most performance indices, with the Cox PH model having the highest accuracy of 0.841. The accuracies of the DT and ANN models were 0.811 and 0.821, respectively. The Cox PH model is more useful for survival prediction in this study's setting.