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Journal Club

Tumor/Skull Base

CBTRUS Statistical Report: Primary Brain and Other Central Nervous System Tumors Diagnosed in the United States in 2011-2015.

Neuro Oncol | 2018

Rapid review note

Journal Club is a rapid, AI-assisted appraisal layer. It highlights study design, effect estimates, and practice relevance, but it is still a briefing, not a replacement for the paper.

For education only. Not medical advice.

Paper snapshot

Rapid study overview

Open paper

DOI

10.1093/neuonc/noy131

PMID

30445539

PICO

Population

All newly diagnosed primary brain and CNS tumors in the United States population from 2011-2015

Intervention

Not applicable: this is a descriptive epidemiological report

Comparator

Not applicable: this is a descriptive epidemiological report

Outcomes

Incidence rates, mortality rates, relative survival rates by histology, age, sex, race, and Hispanic ethnicity

Design

Type

Population-based descriptive epidemiology study

Randomized

No

Multicenter

Yes

Blinded

Not applicable: registry data analysis

Follow-up

Survival data from 2000-2015 for malignant tumors, 2004-2015 for non-malignant tumors

Primary endpoint

Age-adjusted incidence rates per 100,000 population for primary brain and CNS tumors

Secondary endpoints

  • Mortality rates from NVSS data
  • Relative survival rates from SEER data
  • Distribution by histology, age, sex, race, and ethnicity

Practice impact

What this means

This CBTRUS report provides comprehensive US epidemiological data on 392,982 primary brain and CNS tumors diagnosed 2011-2015. It establishes current incidence rates (23.41/100,000), mortality patterns, and survival outcomes by histology and demographics. While descriptive rather than interventional, it serves as the authoritative reference for understanding brain tumor burden and planning clinical services.

Bottom line

Provides current US epidemiological benchmarks for brain tumor incidence, mortality, and survival

Strength of evidence

high

Recommendation

do not change

Why it matters

  • Standard reference for US brain tumor epidemiology
  • No intervention tested to change practice
  • Essential for healthcare planning and research

What would change my mind

  • Updated data with more recent diagnosis years
  • Major changes in tumor classification affecting comparability
  • Evidence of systematic reporting errors in registry data

Critical appraisal

How strong is the paper?

Methods critique

Risk of bias

Low: uses comprehensive population-based registry data with quality control checks

Confounding

Not applicable: descriptive report without causal inference

Missing data

Minimal: 2.5% of records excluded for specific quality reasons (invalid combinations, duplicates)

Multiplicity

Not applicable: descriptive statistics without hypothesis testing

Notes

  • Registry data dependent on accurate reporting and coding
  • Survival data from SEER subset (28% of US population) may not fully generalize

Stats check

NNT

N/A

Effect sizes

  • 392,982 primary brain and CNS tumor cases in final analytic dataset
  • Age-adjusted incidence rate: 23.41 per 100,000 population

Absolute effects

  • 388,786 cases from NPCR registries
  • 16,633 cases from SEER registries

Concerns

  • No comparative statistics or hypothesis testing
  • Survival data from subset population

External validity

Who it applies to

US population with primary brain and CNS tumors diagnosed 2011-2015

Who it does not

Non-US populations, recurrent tumors, metastatic tumors

Generalizability notes

  • Comprehensive US population coverage through NPCR and SEER
  • Includes all 50 states and District of Columbia
  • Puerto Rico data analyzed separately

Evidence trace

Source trace and metadata

Citations (3)

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methods_critique.risk_of_bias

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p. 2 Technical Notes

quote

CBTRUS obtained incidence data from 52 CCR (47 NPCR and 5 SEER) that include cases of malignant and non-malignant primary brain and other CNS tumors... quality control checks and a system for rating each central cancer registry to insure...

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stats_check.effect_sizes

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p. 4 Data Collection

quote

The final analytic data set included 392,982 records from the 50 state CCR and the District of Columbia

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practice_impact.bottom_line

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p. 1 Introduction

quote

The objective... is to provide a comprehensive summary of the current descriptive epidemiology of primary brain and other central nervous system tumors in the United States population.

Metadata

Generated at

2026-03-06T13:41:29.251Z

Version

top 100 cited in past 20 years