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Definition

The total number of cycles of chemotherapy administered during the course of treatment for cancer.

Components

Data Element (this item)

Representation

This representation is based on the value domain for this data element, more information is available at " Number of chemotherapy cycles N[NN] ".
Data Type Number
Format N[NN]
Maximum character length 3
Values
Value Meaning Start Date End Date
Supplementary Values 997 Not applicable-no chemotherapy was administered
998 Unknown whether chemotherapy was administered
999 Chemotherapy was administered but the number of cycles was not stated/inadequately described

Comments

Guide for use:

Chemotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that achieves its antitumour effect through the use of antineoplastic drugs that inhibit the reproduction of cancer cells by interfering with DNA synthesis and mitosis.

Chemotherapy may be administered as single-agent treatment or as a combination of drugs administered according to a prespecified regimen or protocol.

The number of cycles of each course of single agent chemotherapy, regimen or protocol administered to the patient during the treatment of cancer should be recorded separately.

The number of cycles of chemotherapy received is recorded regardless of whether the course of treatment is completed as intended, and regardless of the intent or timing of the chemotherapy.

If any part of a cycle is administered but the cycle is not completed, record as one cycle.

Oral chemotherapy normally given on an outpatient basis should also be included.

The number of cycles of targeted therapies using a chemotherapy agent is included. Targeted therapies are treatments that use drugs or other substances to identify and attack specific cancer cells.

If a patient receives treatment with a protocol including both a chemotherapy agent and another systemic agent such as an immunotherapy or hormone therapy agent, record the number of cycles here.

Comments:
The collection of specific treatment information is useful to evaluate patterns of care, the effectiveness of different treatment modalities, and treatment by patient outcome.

References

Cancer Institute NSW 2006. NSW Clinical Cancer Registration: Minimum Data Set Data Dictionary, version 1.9 draft
This content Based on Australian Institute of Health and Welfare material. Attribution provided as required under the AIHW CC-BY licence.

Related content

Relation Count
Input in Derivations 0
Output in Derivations 0
Inclusion in Data Set Specifications 1
Inclusion in Data Distributions 0
As a numerator in an Indicator 0
As a denominator in an Indicator 0
As a disaggregation in an Indicator 0