Data Source and Study Population:
The National Cancer Database (NCDB) is a clinical database for adult and
pediatric oncology patients that is sponsored by the American Cancer
Society and American College of Surgeons.22,23 Over
1500 centers contribute hospital-level data, capturing approximately
70% of the annual cancer incidence nationally. The NCDB contains
information on patient demographics, insurance status, staging,
treatment, and patient outcomes. This study was deemed exempt from IRB
review due to the de-identified nature of the dataset.
From the NCDB (2004-2015), patients aged 0-25 years diagnosed with
sarcoma based on ICD-O-E codes were included in the study. This cohort
included all sarcoma histological subtypes as detailed in Appendix A.
Patients missing data on insurance status and median household income
and educational status, which were used to determine SES, were excluded
from this study.