Danish Colorectal Cancer Group Database.
The aim of the database, which has existed for registration of all patients with colorectal cancer in Denmark since 2001, is to improve the prognosis for this patient group.


METHODS
All Danish patients with newly diagnosed colorectal cancer who are either diagnosed or treated in a surgical department of a public Danish hospital.


METHODS
The database comprises an array of surgical, radiological, oncological, and pathological variables. The surgeons record data such as diagnostics performed, including type and results of radiological examinations, lifestyle factors, comorbidity and performance, treatment including the surgical procedure, urgency of surgery, and intra- and postoperative complications within 30 days after surgery. The pathologists record data such as tumor type, number of lymph nodes and metastatic lymph nodes, surgical margin status, and other pathological risk factors.
The database has had >95% completeness in including patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma with >54,000 patients registered so far with approximately one-third rectal cancers and two-third colon cancers and an overrepresentation of men among rectal cancer patients. The stage distribution has been more or less constant until 2014 with a tendency toward a lower rate of stage IV and higher rate of stage I after introduction of the national screening program in 2014. The 30-day mortality rate after elective surgery has been reduced from >7% in 2001-2003 to <2% since 2013.


CONCLUSIONS
The database is a national population-based clinical database with high patient and data completeness for the perioperative period. The resolution of data is high for description of the patient at the time of diagnosis, including comorbidities, and for characterizing diagnosis, surgical interventions, and short-term outcomes. The database does not have high-resolution oncological data and does not register recurrences after primary surgery. The Danish Colorectal Cancer Group provides high-quality data and has been documenting an increase in short- and long-term survivals since it started in 2001 for both patients with colon and rectal cancers.
Danish Colorectal Cancer Group Database, Copenhagen; Department of Pathology, Herlev University Hospital, Herlev.
Peter
P
Ingeholm
Danish Colorectal Cancer Group Database, Copenhagen; Department of Surgery, Roskilde University Hospital, Roskilde.
Ismail
I
Gögenur
Danish Colorectal Cancer Group Database, Copenhagen; Department of Surgery P, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus C, Denmark.
Lene H
LH
Iversen
clinical quality database; colon neoplasms; disease register; quality indicator; rectal neoplasms