Visionary approach for the treatment of brain tumors

To investigate patient background and current trends in the treatment of brain tumor patients, we analyzed a patient dataset using the Diagnosis Procedure Combination(DPC) database. The DPC data of all inpatients treated between April 2013 and March 2014 in the 327 core and branch hospitals enrolled in the Japan Neurosurgical Society training program were collected. Using ICD-10 code, we could extract 6,142 primary malignant brain tumor patients, 2,538 secondary malignant brain tumor patients, 2,043 pituitary tumor patients, 3,854 meningioma patients, and 5,666 other benign brain tumor patients from amongst a total of 501,609 patients. In this study, we focused on the primary and secondary malignant brain tumor patients. Using a K-code, we could extract 1,564 primary malignant brain tumor patients and 1,072 secondary malignant brain tumor patients who underwent surgery. Treatment modalities were analyzed for these patients. This study provides a general picture of the current trend of treatment for malignant brain tumors in Japan. But further study is needed to validate this patient dataset.