Collection of Data
All data was collected from the National Cancer Database (NCDB), which is a joint project of the Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the American Cancer Society. This nationwide hospital-based oncology data captures approximately 70% of all newly diagnosed cancers in the United States annually. Data collected is compliant with established protocols coordinated under the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR). All NCDB data continuously undergo integrity checks.9