Validation of prostate‐specific antigen laboratory values recorded in Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registries

BACKGROUND Researchers have used prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) values collected by central cancer registries to evaluate tumors for potential aggressive clinical disease. An independent study collecting PSA values suggested a high error rate (18%) related to implied decimal points. To evaluate the error rate in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program, a comprehensive review of PSA values recorded across all SEER registries was performed. METHODS Consolidated PSA values for eligible prostate cancer cases in SEER registries were reviewed and compared with text documentation from ed records. Four types of classification errors were identified: implied decimal point errors, ion or coding implementation errors, nonsignificant errors, and changes related to “unknown” values. RESULTS A total of 50,277 prostate cancer cases diagnosed in 2012 were reviewed. Approximately 94.15% of cases did not have meaningful changes (85.85% correct, 5.58% with a nonsignificant change of