--------------- SEER*Stat 5.3.0 --------------- The SEER*Stat statistical software provides a convenient, intuitive mechanism for the analysis of SEER and other cancer-related databases. It is a powerful PC tool to view individual cancer records and to produce the statistics listed below. These statistics are useful when studying the impact of cancer on a population. Frequency and Rate Statistics - Frequencies - Row and column percentages - Crude (non-adjusted) rates with standard errors and confidence intervals - Age-adjusted rates with standard errors and confidence intervals - Incidence-based mortality rates Trends Over Time (based on frequencies and rates) - Percent changes (PC) - Annual percent changes (APC) with confidence intervals - Comparison of APCs with zero - Comparison of two APCs with one another Survival Statistics - Observed survival - Net survival (absence of other causes of death) - Relative survival - Cause-specific survival - Crude probability of death (presence of other causes of death) - Using expected survival - Using cause of death - Option to adjust for heterogeneity in withdrawal when using expected survival - Comparison of two survival curves (Z-statistic) - Conditional survival - a survival rate conditioned on having survived x years (for example, a 10-year rate for individuals having already survived 5 years) Limited-Duration Prevalence Statistics - Prevalence counts - Crude (non-adjusted) percents - Age-adjusted percents Multiple Primary - Standardized Incidence Ratio Statistics Comparison of cancer incidence in a defined cohort of persons previously diagnosed with cancer to cancer incidence in the general population. In other words, The MP-SIR session allows you to define a cohort of people based on first cancer diagnosis (exposure) and to follow them through time to compare their subsequent cancer experience (observed events) to population based expected values. Case Listings - The values stored in the database for individual records are presented in a table. - You choose the variables displayed and select the records to be included in the table. -------- FEATURES -------- - Easy to use interface - Comprehensive help system - Ability to select/exclude cases using multiple primary criteria (i.e., SEER*Stat realizes a person can have more than one tumor) - Handles complex selection/subset statements with support for full Boolean logic - Multi-dimensional matrices for reporting results - Support for copying and pasting cancer records and statistics into spreadsheet or charting/graphing packages - Ability to export records and statistics to a generic data file for input by other statistical systems such as SAS - Print preview --------------------------- CLIENT-SERVER CONFIGURATION --------------------------- With this configuration, all data are stored in a centralized location at the SEER Program and calculations are performed on SEER's dedicated hardware. If you utilize this mechanism, you do not need to maintain the SEER data on your local computer system. Each time you execute an analysis, the parameters of your request will be transferred over the Internet from your computer to the SEER*Stat server. Once the calculations are complete, the results will be transferred back to your computer. A high speed Internet connection is required for this configuration. ------------------- SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ------------------- - Pentium-based PC - 32-bit Microsoft Windows (95, 98, NT, 2000, XP, etc.) - 800 x 600 or greater monitor resolution - Microsoft Windows display setting of small fonts (this is hopefully a temporary requirement) - Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0+ for viewing help - 32 MBs application RAM - Approximately 6 MBs disk space - High speed Internet connection (not a dial-up modem based) if using the client-server configuration ------------ INSTALLATION ------------ To install from the SEER Public-Use CD #1: - Insert the CD into the drive - From the Start menu, choose Run...; type [cd-drive]:\setup.exe - Follow the instructions on your screen To install using the installation program from the Internet: - Download the installation program from http://seer.cancer.gov/seerstat/software - Within Windows, double-click on the downloaded file - Follow the instructions on your screen - If the Preferences dialog appears on initial execution of SEER*Stat, enter one of the following as the Primary Data Location. The first choice will instruct SEER*Stat to read data from CD and the second choice will dictate client-server mode. - [cd-drive]:\data - ssp://seerstat.cancer.gov Unless the data location is changed from the default with the File, Preferences... dialog, the CD must be located in the drive or you must have an account within the client-server configuration to execute SEER*Stat. -------------------------------- LOCAL AREA NETWORK INSTALLATIONS -------------------------------- A single copy of the SEER*Stat executable and data can be placed on a network for multiple persons to utilize. This configuration is highly recommended because updates to SEER*Stat can be performed on the single network installation instead of modifying each user's desktop PC. Copy the contents of the [cd-drive]:\bin directory (seerstat.exe and seerstat.chm) from the CD to a location on the network accessible by all users. Suppose this location is called "\\fileserv1\SEERStat". Then copy the [cd-drive]:\data directory and all its sub-directories from the CD to this location. This will yield a directory on your network called "\\fileserv1\SEERStat\data". On each user's desktop PC, create a Windows shortcut to "\\fileserv1\SEERStat\seerstat.exe". The first time each user executes SEER*Stat, it will display the default Primary Data Location (PDL) and the default User-Defined Variables Location (UVL). The default PDL is "\\fileserv1\SEERStat\data". The UVL varies by the version of Microsoft Windows. If a network installation is configured, use must be confined to persons that have completed the SEER Public-Use Data Agreement. If others wish to make use of the system, each must complete the SEER Program's Public-Use Data Agreement available on the SEER Web page at the following address. http://seer.cancer.gov/dataagreements/seer.pdf ------------------------------- REMOVING PREVIOUS INSTALLATIONS ------------------------------- Existing versions of SEER*Stat do not need to be removed from your system prior to installing this newer version. This version will NOT allow you to analyze data contained on CDs earlier than SEER*Stat 5.0. If you need to analyze data from earlier CDs, you may not want to overwrite an earlier installation with this version. If you wish to completely remove an earlier version prior to installing this current version, use the Add/Remove Programs icon in the Windows Control Panel. ---------------- REVISION HISTORY ---------------- 8/16/2004 - Version 5.3.0 1. Ability for a single server to handle both encrypted and non-encrypted communications. 2. Session printout as text. 3. Survival now defaults to displaying percents. 4. Merged variables now store numeric variable values in the session and user-defined format libraries in addition to labels. 5. New help system. 6. Prevalence can now be calculated by months prior instead of only supporting years. 7. Blanks are now removed from MP-SIR parameters before verifying. 8. Fixes for related variables in MP-SIR and person selection features of other sessions. 9. Exclude population defining variables that can change for a person (e.g. county) from use in defining referent rates. Also exclude related variables based on these variables. 10. Always check user-defined variables in search statements on database change. 11. Session printout now has title. 12. Fixed problem in survival matrix export when multiple page types are present. Specifically, some export dialog options were not used correctly for all page types. 4/12/2004 - Version 5.2.2 - Minor fixes to client-server communications. 4/8/2004 - Version 5.2.1-beta - Corrected a problem with status updates in client-server mode for the prevalence session, and a printing problem for databases without a suggested citation if working client-server mode and the local database cache is not available. 4/6/2004 - Version 5.2.0-beta - Encrypted communications between the client and server. 1/15/2004 - Version 5.1.14 - Minor fixes to MP-SIR. 1/13/2004 - Version 5.1.13 - Addition of the Select Only Malignant Behavior check box to the frequency, rate, and case listing sessions. Minor bug fixes and additional options for ssexport under UNIX. 1/7/2004 - Version 5.1.12 - Within MP-SIR, the computations of both "Mean Date of Exposure" and "Mean Date of Event" were updated to correct a problem of these dates being exactly one year early. 12/19/2003 - Version 5.1.11-beta - Minor fixes. 12/17/2003 - Version 5.1.10-beta - First public release. 12/15/2003 - Version 5.1.9-beta - Updates to MP-SIR and help. 12/5/2003 - Version 5.1.8-beta - Updates to MP-SIR. 12/2/2003 - Version 5.1.7-beta - Updates to MP-SIR. 12/1/2003 - Version 5.1.6-beta - Updates to MP-SIR. 11/24/2003 - Version 5.1.5-beta - Updates to MP-SIR and help. 11/21/2003 - Version 5.1.4-beta - Updates to MP-SIR and help. 11/20/2003 - Version 5.1.3-beta - Updates to MP-SIR. 11/18/2003 - Version 5.1.2-beta - Updates to MP-SIR. 11/12/2003 - Version 5.1.1-beta - Feature complete version of MP-SIR and new selection dialog. 9/16/2003 - Version 5.1.0-beta - Nearing a feature complete version of MP-SIR. 9/16/2003 - Version 5.0.20 - Client now attempts a connection to PDL seerstat.imsweb.com if seerstat.cancer.gov fails. 8/21/2003 - Version 5.0.19 - Modified selection dialog to allow work with both continuous and discrete values of a variable. 7/21/2003 - Version 5.0.18 - Several minor updates to wording and presentation to make things clearer and cleaner in the interface and help system. Added functionality post a variable specific warning dialog. Several other minor updates to functionality. 4/25/2003 - Version 5.0.17 - Updates to code associated with the standard population control on the statistic tab of the rate and prevalence sessions. 4/23/2003 - Version 5.0.16 - Updates to help. 4/15/2003 - Version 5.0.15 - Updates to help. 4/11/2003 - Version 5.0.14-beta - Updates to prevalence and inclusion of new help. 4/4/2003 - Version 5.0.13-beta - Updates to prevalence and MP-SIR. 3/26/2003 - Version 5.0.12-beta - Inclusion of suggested citations. 3/24/2003 - Version 5.0.11-beta - Updates to MP-SIR. 3/20/2003 - Version 5.0.10-beta - Updates to prevalence and MP-SIR. 3/17/2003 - Version 5.0.9-beta - Updates to prevalence and MP-SIR. 3/12/2003 - Version 5.0.8-beta - Updates to prevalence and MP-SIR. 2/21/2003 - Version 5.0.7-beta - Wider release of the beta product. 2/19/2003 - Version 5.0.6-beta - Minor fixes. 2/14/2003 - Version 5.0.5-beta - Updates to prevalence and MP-SIR. 2/5/2003 - Version 5.0.4-beta - Updates to MP-SIR. 2/3/2003 - Version 5.0.3-beta - Updates to MP-SIR. 1/31/2003 - Version 5.0.2-beta - Updates to MP-SIR. 1/28/2003 - Version 5.0.1-beta - Updates to prevalence and MP-SIR. 1/3/2003 - Version 5.0.0-beta - Initial release with prevalence and MP-SIR. 10/29/2002 - Version 4.2.7 - Minor fixes to the following. 1. When merged variable base names exceeded 200 characters. 2. Divide by zero situation in the calculation of APCs. 3. Export dictionary when variables were reordered in the matrix. 6/6/2002 - Version 4.2.6 - Performance enhancements to the relational model that gracefully merges socio-economic data with the cases and populations for the generation of rates. 5/20/2002 - Version 4.2.4 - Minor fixes and the ability to disable trends in the frequency session. Also, the ability to independently specify whether a database should be presented in a frequency and/or rate session. 4/3/2002 - Version 4.2.3 - Minor fixes. 3/21/2002 - Version 4.2.2-Beta - Minor fixes and the auto-update feature. 3/7/2002 - Version 4.2.1-Beta 1. Relational model to gracefully merge socio-economic data with the cases and populations for the generation of rates. 2. New client-server security model that uses groups to maintain user permissions. 3. Checksum of user's local cache prior to client-server execution. 4. Redesign of communication protocol for canceling a client-server analysis. 5. Improvements to find variable functionality. 6. Functionality to search for a value in a case listing matrix. 7. Certain dialogs are now sizeable. 8. Use of new common file dialog in Windows 2000 and XP. 9. Ability to specify a path for storing temporary files. 10. Printing enhancements. 11. Ability to cancel a database change. 12. "Tree view" on frequency and rate table tab. 13. User generated standard populations and expected rates are uploaded to the server for temporary use during calculations. 14. If a database doesn't exist on session open, the user can now specify which database should be utilized (or attempted). 11/4/2001 - Version 4.1.4 - Set AA rates to default statistic in rate session; minor bug fixes when switching between databases with different age variables and standard populations; functionality to specify default for PC end points in the database.ini. 10/16/2001 - Version 4.1.3 - Several bug fixes including a correction to problems with exporting a case listing matrix. Added support to allow use of standard populations with other than 18 age groups. SEER*Prep 1.8+ is a requirement if processing user-supplied standard populations. 6/28/2001 - Version 4.1.2-Beta - Corrected problem with ZD sorting. 6/12/2001 - Version 4.1.1-Beta - Corrected problem of frequencies being three times too large for population only databases. 5/24/2001 - Version 4.1.0-Beta - Split of the frequency/rate session into two separate entities. 4/2/2001 - Version 4.0.9 - Bug fix for ZD sort not initializing cache size properly. 3/30/2001 - Version 4.0.8 - Bug fixes. 3/29/2001 - Version 4.0.7 - Bug fixes. 3/28/2001 - Version 4.0.6 - UNIX matherr handler. 3/27/2001 - Version 4.0.5 - Bug fixes. 3/26/2001 - Version 4.0.4 - Bug fixes. 3/19/2001 - Version 4.0.3 - Bug fixes. 2/22/2001 - Version 4.0.2-beta - Generalization of variables included in the expected rate tables to support SEER*Prep 2.0, bug fixes, numerous minor enhancements, the ability mask out specified values of the COD variables when they are displayed in the controls for cause-specific survival, and the ability to filter statistics with a decimal point in the case listing matrix. 1/8/2001 - Version 4.0.1-beta - HTML help, bug fixes, and numerous minor enhancements. 10/10/2000 - Version 4.0.0-beta - Multiple primary selection features in freq/rate and case listing, cause specific survival, weighted least squares estimates for APCs, PCs with single year end-points, case listing output from survival including the cumulative expected rate, printing enhancements, and general interface refinements. 2/16/2001 - Version 3.0.11 - ZD bug fix for checking set size needed for compatibility with SEER*Prep 1.5+. 9/13/2000 - Version 3.0.10 - Support for MinimumVersion= key in the database.ini. 8/28/2000 - Version 3.0.9 - Use of ZD's operator precedence, support for ICD-10 as a continuous variable, fixes to merged variables when based on a user-defined, and other bug fixes. 3/27/2000 - Version 3.0.8 - Minor bug fixes over first release candidate. 3/23/2000 - Version 3.0.7 - First release candidate of "Version 3.0". 3/3/2000 - Version 3.0.5-beta - Export enhancements, conversion of the export dictionary to an ".ini file", and support for user-supplied standard millions. 2/10/2000 - Version 3.0.0-beta - Initial release of the case listing session, enhancements to merged variables, adjustments for heterogeneity in withdrawal (Hakulinen adjustments) for relative survival, and an option for user-defined variable definitions in the session printout. 11/17/1999 - Version 2.1.5 - Fixes for icon problems noticeable in earlier versions of 2.1. Fixes for problems downloading the database files file from the server under Windows 9x. 10/22/1999 - Version 2.1.4 - Fix to allow merged variables based on non-indexed variables. 10/6/1999 - Version 2.1.3 - Minor bug fixes and further performance improvements for subsetting non-indexed variables. 9/16/1999 - Version 2.1.2-beta - Improved performance for subsetting on non-indexed variables. 9/14/1999 - Version 2.1.1-beta - Version checking between the client and server, support for user-supplied expected rates, import/export of user-defined variables, support for the Census tract variable, the ability to hide PCs and APCs independently, and support for session printouts that exceed one piece of paper. 7/16/1999 - Version 2.1 (Beta 2) - Client-server, hyperlinks in variable descriptions, and minimize on modal status dialog. 7/7/1999 - Version 2.1 (Beta 1) - Borland C++ Builder 4 and variable merging. Beginnings of Hakulinen adjustments and crude survival. 3/30/1999 - Version 2.0 - Minor fixes over Beta 1. 1/22/1999 - Version 2.0 (Beta 1) - General interface refinements and minor fixes. Tighter integration with SEER*Prep. Migration to Borland C++ Builder. Refinements to allow easier maintenance of network installations. Compilation of calculation module under Solaris. August 1998 submission of SEER, 1973-1996 diagnoses. 7/21/1998 - Version 1.1.2 - Bug fix in subset for "short" variables with values exceeding 32k. Needed for State/county variable. 7/9/1998 - Version 1.1.1 - Support for multiple types of summary files. That is, different variables in each type. 8/11/1998 - Version 1.1a - Functionality to support 1991 Canadian standard millions. 4/3/1998 - Version 1.1 - General interface refinements and minor fixes. August 1997 submission of SEER, 1973-1995 diagnoses. 10/15/1997 - Version 1.0 - Printing and footnote enhancements. Help system and general interface refinements. August 1996 submission of SEER, 1973-1994 diagnoses. 8/13/1997 - Version 1.0 (Beta 2) - Survival calculations and enhancements to incidence calculations. User-defined variables are "memory based" by default and optionally saved to disk. August 1996 submission of SEER, 1973-1994 diagnoses. 3/7/1997 - Beta Version 1.0 - Initial release including incidence calculations. February 1996 submission of SEER, 1973-1993 diagnoses. ----------------- TECHNICAL SUPPORT ----------------- Email: seerstat@imsweb.com Web: www.seer.cancer.gov/seerstat