Glossary of Statistical Terms

percent change

The percent change (PC) in a statistic over a given time interval is Percent change = (Final value - Initial value) / Initial value * 100. A positive PC … [Read more...]

prevalence

The number of cases alive on a certain date.Cancer prevalence is defined as the number or percent of people alive on a certain date in a population who … [Read more...]

primary tumor

The original tumor. … [Read more...]

progression-free survival

The length of time during and after treatment in which a patient is living with a disease that does not get worse. Progression-free survival may be used in a … [Read more...]

relative survival rate

A specific measurement of survival where the rate is calculated by adjusting the rate to remove all causes of death except cancer. It is the ratio of a cancer … [Read more...]

reporting delay

The time elapsed before a diagnosed cancer case is reported to the NCI. Currently, the NCI allows a standard delay of 22 months between the end of the diagnosis … [Read more...]

SEER

Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program of the NCI is a collection of population-based cancer registries in the United States which collect … [Read more...]

SEER registries

SEER Program collects cancer incidence and survival data from the SEER registries, geographic areas selected for inclusion in the SEER Program based on their … [Read more...]

spatial correlation

A measure of the tendency for places that are near to each other to have more similar (positive correlation) or dissimilar (negative correlation) values of … [Read more...]

stage

The extent of a cancer within the body. If the cancer has spread, the stage describes how far it has spread from the original site to other parts of the body. … [Read more...]