Survival in hematological malignancies in the Nordic countries through a half century with correlation to treatment.

Studies of survival in hematological malignancies (HMs) have generally shown an improvement over time, although most of these studies are limited by a short follow-up period. Using the NORDCAN database with data from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, we follow periodic increases in relative survival in seven HMs through half a century up to 2015-2019. Five-year survival improved in all seven HMs, reaching 90% for Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), myeloproliferative neoplasias and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), 60% for multiple myeloma (MM) and chronic myeloid leukemias (CMLs), 50% for the myelodysplastic syndromes and 30% for acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Survival trends in hematological malignancies in the Nordic countries through 50 years.

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Survival trends in solid cancers in the Nordic countries through 50 years.

Aims: Global survival studies in cancer have generally shown favourable development, but studies over extended periods on populations for which medical care is essentially free of charge are lacking.

Methods: We analyse relative 1- and 5-year survival in all solid cancers in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden through a 50-year period (1970-2019) using the NORDCAN database.

Results: The most recent survival results showed three types of patterns.