UNASSIGNED: 3708 Background: Administrative databases have generally not been designed to permit @entity5 researchers to readily follow @entity1 forward from the period pre-diagnosis through initial curative intent treatment, adjuvant therapy, post-treatment follow-up, to the final endpoint of either @entity204 or loss to follow-up. One major hurdle to @entity5 research using such databases has been the lack of data such as stage at diagnosis, and histopathologic type and grade. A second major hurdle is that many @entity1 use more than one system of care, in this instance, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Medicare-reimbursed care. These dual users would be inaccurately represented in the analysis if only one source of data were analyzed. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 13 years of nationwide Medicare and VA inpatient and institutional outpatient data beginning with the three years pre-diagnosis (1986-1990) through a minimum of five years post-diagnosis (1994-1998) was conducted. Death data were available through December 2003. Data were also extracted from @entity5 registry files, Computerized @entity1 Record System Files, and paper medical records at each VA. The population studied included all VA @entity1 diagnosed with @entity14 and surgically treated for cure during the five-year period 1989-1993, who were Medicare-eligible at diagnosis, and survived the index admission. RESULTS: Of the 6612 @entity1 treated with curative intent during the five-year period, 4902 (74%) could be staged. Of these, 4535 (93%) were deemed eligible for the study. Of the eligible @entity1 , 77% were diagnosed with @entity694 and 23 percent with @entity5 . The majority (88%) had @entity420 . The histopathologic grade was moderately differentiated for 54% and well differentiated for 19%. As of December 2003, 74% had died. Including all stages (0- IV), the average survival in months after treatment was 75 (median=61). CONCLUSIONS: This rich database provides a wealth of data for subgroup analyses of survival, recurrence patterns, and particularly, of health services utilization patterns within and across systems of care. [Table: see text].

Long-term survival patterns of a large nationwide cohort of elderly veterans with XXXX .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients', 'Patient'] @entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['tumor', 'cancer', 'rectal cancer'] @entity694 :: ('MESH:D003110', 'Disease') :: ['colon cancer'] @entity14 :: ('MESH:D015179', 'Disease') :: ['colorectal cancer'] @entity204 :: ('MESH:D003643', 'Disease') :: ['death'] @entity420 :: ('MESH:D000230', 'Disease') :: ['adenocarcinoma']
@entity14 :: (MESH:D015179,Disease) :: ['colorectal cancer']
