Table 1.
Characteristics of the study population by cancer type (total n = 7343)
| Rare cancer n = 1856 | Common cancer n = 5487 | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age in years, mean (SD) | 61 (11.9) | 63 (10.3) | 0.001** |
| Sex, n (%) | 0.001** | ||
| Male | 723 (39%) | 1828 (33%) | |
| Female | 1121 (61%) | 3645 (67%) | |
| Educational level, n (%) | 0.001* | ||
| High | 781 (43%) | 2027 (38%) | |
| Medium | 770 (43%) | 2413 (45%) | |
| Low | 261 (14%) | 874 (16%) | |
| Type of cancer, n (%) | 0.001** | ||
| Sarcomas | 216 (12%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Female genital organs and breast cancer | 284 (15%) | 2343 (43%) | |
| Male genital organ and urological cancer | 65 (4%) | 1045 (19%) | |
| Neuroendocrine tumors | 28 (2%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Cancer of digestive tract | 270 (15%) | 1034 (19%) | |
| Cancer of endocrine organs | 84 (5%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Cancer of head and neck | 143 (8%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Thoracic cancer | 34 (2%) | 361 (7%) | |
| Melanoma of skin and eye | 1 (0%) | 237 (4%) | |
| Cancer of central nervous system | 50 (3%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Hematological cancer | 681 (37%) | 467 (9%) | |
| Current phase of the disease, n (%) | 0.001** | ||
| Cancer-free | 904 (54%) | 3551 (70%) | |
| Curable | 132 (8%) | 489 (10%) | |
| Incurable | 642 (38%) | 1056 (21%) | |
| Number of (types of) treatmenta, n (%) | 0.001** | ||
| No treatment | 58 (3%) | 60 (1%) | |
| 1 type of treatment | 580 (31%) | 1393 (25%) | |
| 2 types of treatment | 672 (36%) | 1677 (31%) | |
| > 2 types of treatment | 546 (29%) | 2357 (43%) | |
| Years since last treatment, median (range) | 2 (0–55 years) | 2 (0–56 years) | 0.06 |
| Hospital of diagnosisb, n (%) | 0.001** | ||
| Academic or cancer-specialized hospital | 481 (27%) | 714 (13%) | |
| Top-clinical hospital | 811 (45%) | 2571 (48%) | |
| General hospital | 520 (29%) | 2092 (39%) | |
| Hospital of treatmentb, n (%) | 0.001** | ||
| Academic or cancer-specialized hospital | 1020 (56%) | 1334 (25%) | |
| Top-clinical hospital | 550 (30%) | 2431 (45%) | |
| General hospital | 249 (14%) | 1597 (30%) |
n, number; SD, standard deviation
The missing value rate was low (range 0–3%), with one exception, i.e., current phase of disease (8%)
aTypes of treatment include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy, stem cell transplantation, active surveillance and wait-and-see
bHospital of diagnosis and hospital of treatment have been classified according to the Dutch health care system
*p < 0.01
**p < 0.001