New method for determining breast cancer recurrence-free survival using routinely collected real-world health data

BACKGROUND: In cancer survival analyses using population-based data, researchers face the challenge of ascertaining the timing of recurrence. We previously developed algorithms to identify recurrence of breast cancer. This is a follow-up study to detect the timing of recurrence. METHODS: Health events that signified recurrence and timing were obtained from routinely collected administrative data. The timing of recurrence was estimated by finding the timing of key indicator events using three different algorithms, respectively. For validation, we compared algorithm-estimated timing of recurrence with that obtained from chart-reviewed data. We further compared the results of cox regressions models (modeling recurrence-free survival) based on the algorithms versus chart review. RESULTS: In total, 598 breast cancer patients were included. 121 (20.2%) had recurrence after a median follow-up of 4 years. Based on the high accuracy algorithm for identifying the presence of recurrence (with 94.2% sensitivity and 79.2% positive predictive value), the majority (64.5%) of the algorithm-estimated recurrence dates fell within 3 months of the corresponding chart review determined recurrence dates. The algorithm estimated and chart-reviewed data generated Kaplan–Meier (K-M) curves and Cox regression results for recurrence-free survival (hazard ratios and P-values) were very similar. CONCLUSION: The proposed algorithms for identifying the timing of breast cancer recurrence achieved similar results to the chart review data and were potentially useful in survival analysis. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-022-09333-6.