BACKGROUND: Cancers of the head and neck (HN) are heterogeneous tumors with incidence rates varying globally. In Northern Europe oral and oropharyngeal cancers are the most common individual types. Survival for HN varies by individual tumor type but for most of them survival trends are not well known over extended periods of time. METHODS: Data for a retrospective survival study were obtained for Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish patients from the NORDCAN database from 1971 to 2020. Relative 1- and 5-year survival rates and 5/1-year conditional survival for years 2-5 were calculated. RESULTS: Both 1- and 5-year survival improved for all HN cancers but only marginally for laryngeal cancer. For the other cancers a 50-year increase in 5-year survival was about 30% units for nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal cancers, 20% units for oral cancer and somewhat less for hypopharyngeal cancer. CONCLUSIONS: 5-year survival reached about 65% for all HN cancers, except for hypopharyngeal cancer (30%). Human papilloma virus infection is becoming a dominant risk factor for the rapidly increasing oropharyngeal cancer, the prevention of which needs to emphasize oral sex as a route of infection.

• Klíčová slova
• conditional survival, human papilloma virus, oral cancer, pharyngeal cancer,
• MeSH
• incidence MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• míra přežití MeSH
• nádory hltanu * mortalita   epidemiologie   MeSH
• nádory hrtanu * mortalita   epidemiologie   MeSH
• nádory úst mortalita   epidemiologie   MeSH
• retrospektivní studie MeSH
• rizikové faktory MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Skandinávie a severské státy epidemiologie   MeSH

Survival studies are important tools for cancer control, but long-term survival data on high-quality cancer registries are lacking for all cancers, including prostate (PC), testicular (TC), and penile cancers. Using generalized additive models and data from the NORDCAN database, we analyzed 1- and 5-year relative survival for these cancers in Denmark (DK), Finland (FI), Norway (NO), and Sweden (SE) over a 50-year period (1971-2020). We additionally estimated conditional 5/1-year survival for patients who survived the 1st year after diagnosis. Survival improved early for TC, and 5-year survival reached 90% between 1985 (SE) and 2000 (FI). Towards the end of the follow-up, the TC patients who had survived the 1st year survived the next 4 years with comparable probability to the background population. For PC, the 90% landmark was reached between 2000 (FI) and after 2010 (DK). For penile cancer, 5-year survival never reached the 90% landmark, and the improvements in survival were modest at best. For TC, early mortality requires attention, whereas late mortality should be tackled for PC. For penile cancer, the relatively high early mortality may suggest delays in diagnosis and would require more public awareness and encouragement of patients to seek medical opinion. In FI, TC and penile cancer patients showed roughly double risk of dying compared to the other Nordic countries, which warrants further study and clinical attention.

• Klíčová slova
• conditional survival, periodic survival, prognosis, time trends, treatment,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

BACKGROUND: Female cancers cover common breast cancers, relatively common endometrial, ovarian, and cervical cancers and rare vulvar cancer. Survival in these cancers is known to be relatively good compared to all cancers but long-term studies for these cancers are rare, and to fill the gap, here, we generate survival data through 50 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We applied generalized additive models to data from the NORDCAN database and analyzed 1- and 5-year relative survival for these cancers in Denmark (DK), Finland (FI), Norway (NO), and Sweden (SE) over half a century (1971-2020). Conditional 5/1-year survival for patients who survived the 1st year after diagnosis and annual survival changes was also estimated. RESULTS: In 2016-20, 5-year survival was best for breast cancer reaching 92.3% (in SE), followed by endometrial cancer at 86.1% (SE) and cervical cancer at 75.6% (NO). Improvement in 5-year survival over the 50 years was the largest for ovarian cancer (20% units), finally reaching 52.9% (SE). For vulvar cancer, the final survival was between 70 and 73%. The best 5-year survival rate in 2016-20 was recorded for SE in breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancers; NO showed the highest rate for cervical and DK for vulvar cancers. DK had the lowest survival for breast and ovarian cancers, and FI, for the other cancers. CONCLUSIONS: The overall survival development appeared to consist of continuous improvements, most likely because of novel treatment and imaging techniques as well as overall organization of patient care. The large survival improvement for ovarian cancer was probably achieved by a surgical focus on tumors spread in the peritoneal cavity. For cervical and vulvar cancers, the high early mortality requires attention and could be helped by raising increasing public awareness of early symptoms in these cancers and developing pathways for fast initiation of treatment.

• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH