ArticleJournal of global oncology2019
The Mortality-to-Incidence Ratio Is Not a Valid Proxy for Cancer Survival.
Article in Journal of global oncology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed.
- The burden of childhood cancers in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Region: a population-based, cross-sectional GLOBOCAN 2022 analysis.The Lancet regional health. Southeast Asia · 2026Article
- Reframing disease burden: validation of DALY-per-case as a per-diagnosis severity metric.Population health metrics · 2026Article
- Article
- Long-term effects of human development on the global burden of gallbladder and biliary tract cancer: a longitudinal multilevel analysis, 1990-2021.Gastroenterology and hepatology from bed to bench · 2026Article
- Colorectal Cancer in the U.S., 1999-2021: Declining Rates, Rising Concerns, and Persistent Disparities.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- A temporal and spatial analysis of incidence and mortality of lip, oral cavity, and pharyngeal cancer in a Northeastern Brazilian state.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Authors' response.The Indian journal of medical research · 2025Article
- Concern regarding the use of mortality-to-incidence ratios as a proxy for cancer survival estimates.The Indian journal of medical research · 2025Article
- Completeness Evaluation of Adult-Population-Based Cancer Registries: A Systematic Review.Cancers · 2025Review
- Geospatial Analysis of Breast Cancer Incidence, Mortality, and Access to Screening in Rural and Appalachian Virginia.Journal of Appalachian health · 2025Article
- Global burden of cancer pattern in 2020 & prediction to 2040 among older adults.The Indian journal of medical research · 2024Article
- Article
- [Estimation of cancer incidence in Brazil and its regions in 2018: methodological aspects].Cadernos de saude publica · 2024Article
- Cancer Incidence and Mortality Estimates in Arab Countries in 2018: A GLOBOCAN Data Analysis.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2023Article
- ESMO/ASCO Recommendations for a Global Curriculum in Medical Oncology Edition 2023.JCO global oncology · 2023Article
- Trends in thyroid cancer burden in Taiwan over two decades.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2023Article
- Cancer mortality-to-incidence ratio among Iraqi citizens: Nine-year National Estimates (2012-2020) and its relation to population growth rate and health expenditure.Qatar medical journal · 2023Article
- Cancer burden and status of cancer control measures in fragile states: a comparative analysis of 31 countries.The Lancet. Global health · 2022Article
- Mortality-to-Incidence Ratio for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Is Associated with Health Expenditure.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeThe ratio of cancer mortality and cancer incidence rates in a population has conventionally been used as an indicator of the completeness of cancer registration. More recently, the complement of the mortality-to-incidence ratio (1-M/I) has increasingly been presented as a surrogate for cancer survival. We discuss why this is mistaken in principle and misleading in practice.
methodsWe provide an empirical assessment of the extent to which trends in the 1-M/I ratio reflect trends in cancer survival. We used national cancer incidence, mortality and survival data in England to compare trends in both the 1-M/I ratio and net survival at 1, 5, and 10 years for 19 cancers in men and 20 cancers in women over the 29-year period from 1981 to 2009.
resultsThe absolute difference between the 1-M/I ratio and 5-year net survival for 2009 was less than 5% for only 12 of the 39 cancer/sex combinations examined. For an additional 12, the 1-M/I ratio differed from 5-year net survival by at least 15%. The comparison is also unstable over time; thus, even when differences were small for 2009, the difference between 5-year net survival and the 1-M/I ratio had changed dramatically for most cancers between 1981 and 2009.
conclusionThe 1-M/I ratio lacks any theoretical basis as a proxy for cancer survival. It is not a valid proxy for cancer survival in practice, either, whether at 5 years or at any other time interval since diagnosis. It has none of the useful properties of a population-based survival estimate. It should not be used as a surrogate for cancer survival.
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