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Background:

Administrative health care claims data are used for epidemiologic, health services, and outcomes cancer research and thus play a significant role in policy. Cancer stage, which is often a major driver of cost and clinical outcomes, is not typically included in claims data.

Objectives:

Evaluate algorithms used in a dataset of cancer patients to identify patients with metastatic breast (BC), lung (LC), or colorectal (CRC) cancer using claims data.

Methods:

Clinical data on BC, LC, or CRC patients (between January 1, 2007 and March 31, 2010) were linked to a health care claims database. Inclusion required health plan enrollment≥ 3 months before initial cancer diagnosis date. Algorithms were used in the claims database to identify patients’ disease status, which was compared with physician-reported metastases. Generic and tumor-specific algorithms were evaluated using ICD-9 codes, varying diagnosis time …