Purpose: We wished to determine whether survival for patients managed at Hoag Hospital improved after opening of the Hoag Cancer Center in 1991.

Methods: Data from the Hoag Hospital tumor registry and national Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program were used for historical intramural and contemporary extramural survival comparisons of patients with invasive cancer for the successive eras, 1986-1991 and 1992-1998. Relative 5-year survival rates were calculated using Electronic Registry Systems, Inc. computer software.

Results: Relative 5-year survival rates for Hoag and SEER respectively were 63% and 58% during 1986-1991, and 70% and 64% during 1992-1998. Survival for Hoag patients was > SEER for 87% (21/24) of malignancies during 1992-1998 compared to 54% (12/24) during 1986-1991 (p= .013), and was higher for each of the four most prevalent cancers. Intramural comparisons for 1992-1998 versus 1986-1991 showed higher 5-year survival rates for 21/24 malignancies during the more recent era, and a seven percentage point higher survival for all patients. Subset analyses of the most prevalent cancers suggested the major reasons for enhanced survival were earlier diagnosis, and substantial improvements in survival for regional disease as a result of combined modality therapies.

Conclusion: The existence of the Hoag Cancer Center has been associated with improved survival for patients by comparisons to historical intramural and contemporary extramural benchmarks. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that multidisciplinary care and accelerated dissemination of new information resulted in earlier adoption of improved screening, diagnostic, and treatment approaches that were associated with enhanced survival rates.