Aims: To understand the patterns of treatment for gynaecological cancers (GC) across Queensland between 2012-2021 and look for areas of improvement.
Methods: The source of population data for this study is the Queensland Oncology Repository (QOR), which is a comprehensive clinical cancer database that links diagnostic information from the Queensland Cancer Register (QCR), with treatment data (radiation therapy, surgery, and intravenous systemic therapy), admissions data for both public and private hospitals, and patient outcome data. Clinical data including FIGO stage and biomarkers was extracted from the Queensland Centre for Gynaecological Cancer database and linked to QOR.
Results: 11,909 Queensland women were diagnosed with GC between 2012-2021. The most common diagnosis is endometrial (45%, n = 5,378) followed by ovarian (29%, n=3,453) and then cervical (18%, n=2,127) with the three making up 92% of all GC.
Women with GC typically require a multidisciplinary approach to their care, including surgery, radiation therapy, and systemic therapy. The overall treatment rate is high at 88% (n=10,423/11,909). 73% of all GC diagnoses underwent resection with endometrial cancer having the highest resection rate of 84%. Radiation therapy treatment rates were highest for cervical cancer (47%), while systemic therapy rates were highest (70%) for ovarian cancer.
Small increases in the radiation therapy treatment rate between 2012-2016 and 2017-2021 were observed for endometrial (22% to 26%) and vulval (29% to 35%) cancers.
Survival for GC varies across the individual primary sites with endometrial cancer survival at 5 years 78% compared to ovarian at 44%.
Conclusion: Accessing linked population-wide data enables active monitoring of care patterns for women with GC. This resource facilitates the extraction of valuable insights and evaluation of effective strategies and interventions to prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat GC.