Premium
Effect of inaccurate pathological diagnosis on survival statistics for melanoma survey of cases in the connecticut tumor registry
Author(s) -
Truax Hollis,
Barnett Roy N.,
Hukill Peter B.,
Campbell Patricia C.,
Eisenberg Henry
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(196611)19:11<1543::aid-cncr2820191114>3.0.co;2-#
Subject(s) - medicine , pathological , melanoma , pathology , oncology , cancer research
The effect of inaccurate pathologic diagnoses upon the survival statistics of cases of melanoma in the Connecticut Tumor Registry was evaluated. Of 247 cases of long‐term survivors with adequate material, 62 (25.1%) were not melanoma. The exclusion of these inaccurate diagnoses led to an over‐all decrease in the crude 5—year survival rate for 1935 to 1954 from 40.8% to 36.1%. Although the change is sizable, this correction does not, by itself, explain the much better survival rates for melanoma patients reported by central registries than by treatment centers (large individual institutions). The main reason for this difference appears to be that melanoma patients with less favorable prognostic characteristics tend to accumulate in treatment centers. Other findings found in the study of Connecticut material were: 1. the lesions most often misinterpreted as melanoma were blue nevi and cellular but otherwise typical nevi; 2. no true change in diagnostic accuracy could be demonstrated for the study period; 3. pathologists in smaller hospitals showed less of a tendency to overdiagnose “melanomas” than pathologists in larger hospitals; 4. individual pathologists vary greatly in their tendency to overdiagnose “melanomas”.