Abstrakt
Improving cancer survival without compromising the quality of life is the main challenge for medical oncology. Since the introduction of traditional chemotherapies from the 1950s, a number of diverse treatment modalities have been employed to improve the survival of individuals with hematological malignancies (HMs) [1].
Two HMs, Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and childhood acute lymphatic leukemia (ALL) were among the first cancers for which high cure rates were achieved and serve as success stories in oncology. In HL, risk-adapted therapies were introduced with intensive poly-chemotherapeutic regimens in combination with other modalities [2].
In childhood ALL, treatment was based on risk stratification, assessment of minimal residual disease and additional supportive care [3]. Therapies for these HMs were optimized in clinical randomized trials and are increasingly being administered in specialized centers.
Recent survival studies on HMs from Europe and USA have shown a generally positive trend. However, most studies have covered a short follow-up period because of diagnostic uncertainties and a lack of data [4, 5].
The Nordic cancer registries are the oldest national cancer registries in the world and cover almost all cancers with complete follow-up [6]. Grouped data from these cancer registries are publicly available in the NORDCAN database, which has been used in survival studies in HMs starting from the 1960s [7].
Here, we use this resource, recently extended to include data to the year 2020, in an analysis of survival in all available specific HMs from Denmark (DK), Finland (FI), Norway (NO) and Sweden (SE). We show data on 1-year and 5-year relative survival through a half century.