METHODS
A population-based retrospective cohort study of endometrial cancer
patients was conducted in the province of Ontario, Canada. Women with
endometrial cancer diagnosed 2009-2017 were identified from the Ontario
Cancer Registry, which uses a rapid case ascertainment system to capture
all cancer diagnoses in the province based on pathology reports as well
as admission and discharge databases, regional cancer treatment reports
and death certificates 31, and has undergone rigorous
quality analysis as part of a global cancer surveillance project32. All uterine endometrial cancer histologies were
included, but uterine sarcomas were excluded. Populations excluded from
Ontario’s provincial administrative healthcare databases, including
incarcerated persons, Canadian armed forces and Indigenous people living
on Reserves whose healthcare is federally funded, were not included in
the study population. The timeframe chosen was selected to reflect a
period in which stage information began to be systematically entered in
the Ontario Cancer Registry, and was cut off to allow for latency in
reporting.
The study, using de-identified secondary data analysis, was reviewed and
exempted by the Hamilton Health Sciences integrated research ethics
board (#7732-C).