Table 1 Commonly used variables in SEER database
Type | Available variable | Cancer type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Sociodemographics | Patient ID | NOS | Personal Identification Number |
Age | NOS | Patient age at diagnosis | |
Sex | NOS | Gender in biological terms | |
Race/ethnicity | NOS | Physical traits and cultural identity | |
Year/Month of diagnosis | NOS | Month of diagnosis is excluded | |
Year of birth | NOS | NA | |
Marital status | NOS | Marital status at diagnosis | |
Insurance | NOS | Excluded since 2022 | |
Census tract income | NOS | Median household income | |
Geographic location | Location | NOS | State-county at diagnosis; excluded since 2022 |
Registry | NOS | State of registry | |
Urban and rural distribution | NOS | Urban and rural areas | |
Socioeconomics | Socioeconomic status factors | NOS | 22 county-level factors reported by American Community Survey County Attributes |
Tumor | Site | NOS | ICD-O-3 topography code |
Histology | NOS | ICD-O-3 morphology code | |
Sequence | NOS | Sequence of reported tumor | |
Biological characteristics | CNS | WHO grade, laterality, size | |
Non-CNS | Breast cancer subtype, etc. WHO grade, laterality, size | ||
Biomarkers | CNS | IDH-mutant, 1p/19q co-deleted, H3K27M-mutant, SHH and p53 status, etc | |
Non-CNS | AFP, CA-125, CEA, hCG, PSA, etc. Vary by tumor site | ||
Extent | NOS | Extension of the involvement; vary by tumor site | |
Metastasis | CNS | NA | |
Non-CNS | Brain/bone/lung/liver metastasis available after 2016 | ||
Stage | CNS | NA | |
Non-CNS | AJCC T/M/N staging and staging group | ||
Lymph node status | CNS | NA | |
Non-CNS | Number of examined and positive regional nodes | ||
Treatment | Surgery | NOS | Specifies if receiving the first course surgical treatment; operation type; extent of resection |
Lymph node surgery | CNS | NA | |
Non-CNS | Number of regional lymph nodes removed | ||
Radiotherapy | NOS | Specifies if receiving the first course of radiotherapy; radiotherapy type | |
Chemotherapy | NOS | Specifies if receiving the first course of chemotherapy | |
Outcomes | Status | NOS | Status at the last time reporting to the registry |
Follow-up time | NOS | Survival time or follow-up time |