Recent survival trends in the most fatal cancers in the Nordic countries: gains in some but not in all

Abstract

Background Global survival studies distinguish a group of solid cancers with especially poor survival, which in the Nordic countries are cancers of the hypopharynx, esophagus, stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, lung and pleura, each with a 5-year overall survival ranging between 15 to 30%. These cancers need extra attention. Methods We analyze here 1- and 5- year relative survival in the above cancers in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden comparing periods 2013-18 and 2019-23 using the NORDCAN database. Results Survival improvement was significant for lung cancer in each country, more for women than for men. For females, 1- and 5-year lung cancer survival improvements were about 5 and 6 % units between the two periods, compared to all cancer of 1.5 and 2 % units, respectively. Regarding other individual sites, Norway and Sweden demonstrated significant survival improvements in stomach cancer, and Norway also in pancreatic cancer. However, non-significant survival improvements were observed for most cancers. No positive evidence was found for esophageal cancer in Finland and gallbladder cancer in Norway. More significant improvements were found for 1- than for 5-year survival. Conclusions Survival in lung cancer increased in all countries well over improvements for all cancers. Survival increased also significantly for stomach and pancreatic cancers in some countries, and improvements were seen for other cancers. Although the results show success in fight against the most fatal cancers, continuous efforts are needed in early detection, facile clinical handling and novel therapeutics. However, for these fatal cancers primary prevention would be highly rewarding.