I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 12 June 2007:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many women in England have been diagnosed with (a) Stage 1, (b) Stage 2, (c) Stage 3 and (d) Stage 4 ovarian cancer in (i) the latest year for which figures are available and (ii) each of the previous five years. (140642)
The data item, stage, was introduced in 1993 when the cancer registration minimum data set was established by the Department of Health. There remains much variation between the eight regional cancer registries in England in the recording of stage that is likely to reflect differences in what is meant by “stage”, rather than real differences across England in what clinicians use to classify the patients. It is not therefore, possible to provide nationally comparable data on cancer incidence broken down by stage.
The United Kingdom Association of Cancer Registries (UKACR) is investigating what should be counted as a complete stage in an attempt to agree on an interpretation in future. In the future, the new Cancer Registration Data Set will include stage recorded at multiple points along the patient pathway.