Survival of patients diagnosed with cancer in the Nordic countries up to 1999–2003 followed to the end of 2006. A critical overview of the results

Figures & data

Table I. Five-year age-standardised relative survival (%) (RS) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) by site and country for patients diagnosed 1999–2003 and trends in survival 1989–2003. Nordic cancer survival study: Men.

	Denmark		Finland		Iceland		Norway		Sweden		Survival trend
Site	RS	CI	RS	CI	RS	CI	RS	CI	RS	CI	1989–2003
Lip	89	84–94	91	87–95	*	*	91	86–97	91	88–95	↔
Tongue	35	30–40	50	42–59	*	*	45	39–51	46	41–51	↑↔
Salivary glands	56	48–66	58	49–68	*	*	57	49–66	64	58–70	↔
Mouth	41	36–46	43	38–49	*	*	48	42–55	50	46–54	↔
Pharynx	34	30–38	38	33–44	*	*	33	29–37	36	34–39	↑↔
Oesophagus	6	5–7	9	7–11	12	7–21	8	6–11	11	10–13	↑
Stomach	14	12–15	26	24–27	22	16–31	20	18–22	20	18–21	↔↕
Small intestine	35	28–44	54	47–61	*	*	48	42–55	52	48–56
Colon	49	47–50	59	57–61	55	49–62	55	54–57	56	55–57	↑
Rectum and anus	49	48–51	57	55–59	65	55–76	57	56–59	57	56–58	↑
Liver	3	2–4	8	6–10	7	3–21	5	4–8	7	6–8	↔
Gallbladder and ducts	10	8–14	13	10–17	17	8–38	14	11–19	13	11–16	↔
Pancreas	3	2–3	3	2–4	3	1–9	3	3–5	4	4–5	↔
Nose and sinuses	54	47–62	44	36–54	*	*	49	40–59	52	45–59	↔
Larynx	60	57–64	61	56–66	73	59–91	66	62–71	66	63–69	↔
Lung	8	7–9	8	8–9	11	9–15	10	9–10	11	10–12	↔
Pleura	4	2–6	6	4–9	*	*	2	1–4	4	3–6	↔
Prostate	53	51–55	86	84–87	81	78–85	78	77–79	81	80–82	↑
Testis	93	89–97	88	83–94	*	*	92	88–97	94	90–97	↔
Penis and other genital	74	67–81	62	51–74	*	*	80	73–88	70	65–75	↔
Kidney	40	38–43	57	54–59	60	51–70	51	49–54	52	50–54	↑
Bladder	71	69–72	74	73–76	76	70–82	73	72–75	74	73–75	↔↕
Skin melanoma	80	78–82	82	80–85	93	89–98	78	77–80	86	85–88	↑↔
Eye	69	61–78	83	74–93	*	*	76	68–85	77	71–84	↔
Brain	46	44–48	52	50–54	40	34–48	45	43–47	48	47–50	↑↔
Thyroid	68	63–74	81	77–85	85	74–96	82	76–87	81	77–85	↔
Bone	55	47–66	62	54–71	*	*	54	45–65	64	58–71	↔↑
Soft tissues	61	57–66	65	61–70	*	*	66	62–71	62	59–66	↔
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	50	48–53	53	51–55	56	47–67	51	48–53	54	53–56	↑↔
Hodgkin lymphoma	80	77–84	85	81–88	*	*	84	81–88	84	81–86	↑
Multiple myeloma	28	25–31	34	31–37	29	19–42	36	33–39	37	35–39	↑↔
Acute Leukaemia	41	38–45	42	38–46	*	*	38	33–43	43	40–46	↑↔
Other leukaemia	63	60–65	55	52–58	71	59–85	58	55–61	68	66–70	↑↔

↑ Increasing trend; ↔ Level trend; ↕ Increasing and decreasing trends; (if more arrows are presented for a cancer site the first indicate the dominating trend in the Nordic countries and the second most often the trend in Iceland).

*Too few cases to calculate survival.

Table II. Five-year age-standardised relative survival (%) (RS) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) by site and country for patients diagnosed 1999–2003 and trends in survival 1989–2003. Nordic cancer survival study: Women.

	Denmark		Finland		Iceland		Norway		Sweden		Survival trend
Site	RS	CI	RS	CI	RS	CI	RS	CI	RS	CI	1989–2003
Lip	87	81–95	97	92–101	*	*	94	87–101	94	90–98	↔
Tongue	46	40–53	67	61–74	*	*	59	51–67	58	53–64	↔
Salivary glands	66	58–76	65	58–74	*	*	66	57–76	73	67–79	↔
Mouth	49	44–54	69	63–75	56	40–79	61	55–68	60	56–64	↔
Pharynx	34	29–39	51	43–61	*	*	30	25–36	45	41–50	↔
Oesophagus	7	5–10	20	16–25	9	3–25	9	6–13	14	11–17	↔↑
Stomach	14	12–16	30	28–33	43	33–56	24	22–27	24	22–26	↑↔
Small intestine	35	28–43	49	43–56	*	*	55	49–61	51	47–55	↔↑
Colon	52	51–53	62	61–64	58	51–65	59	57–60	60	59–61	↑↔
Rectum incl. anus	53	51–54	60	58–62	52	43–64	63	61–65	62	61–64	↑↔
Liver	5	3–7	8	6–11	*	*	11	8–16	8	6–9	↔
Gallbladder and ducts	11	8–16	12	10–14	29	17–48	12	9–16	10	9–12	↔
Pancreas	3	3–4	4	3–5	1	0–5	4	3–5	5	4–6	↔
Nose and sinuses	55	48–63	52	43–63	*	*	57	47–69	61	54–69	↔
Larynx	52	46–59	56	45–70	*	*	65	56–75	61	54–68	↔
Lung	9	8–9	13	12–14	15	12–19	13	12–14	15	15–16	↑↔
Pleura	8	5–14	7	3–15	*	*	7	3–17	14	9–24	↔
Breast	79	78–80	86	85–87	87	84–91	83	82–84	85	85–86	↑
Cervix uteri	64	62–66	67	65–70	64	54–76	68	66–70	65	64–67	↔↑
Corpus uteri	79	78–81	83	82–85	75	68–84	81	79–82	83	82–84	↑
Ovary and tubes	33	31–34	44	42–45	34	28–42	41	39–42	43	42–45	↑↔
Other genital organs	57	53–60	55	51–59	64	48–85	63	59–67	57	54–60	↔↑
Kidney	41	38–43	62	60–64	52	43–63	55	52–58	57	55–59	↑↔
Bladder	62	60–64	72	69–75	71	62–81	68	66–70	68	67–70	↑↔
Skin melanoma	90	89–91	89	87–90	91	85–97	88	87–90	92	91–93	↑↔
Eye	70	63–77	78	71–86	*	*	77	70–84	74	69–80	↔
Brain	61	59–63	67	65–69	60	52–69	67	65–69	68	66–69	↑
Thyroid	77	73–80	90	88–91	93	87–99	86	83–89	86	84–88	↔
Bone	57	48–67	66	57–76	*	*	58	49–68	68	61–76	↔
Soft tissues	64	59–68	67	63–71	*	*	71	66–76	63	59–66	↔
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	55	53–57	58	56–60	57	48–68	57	55–59	60	58–61	↑↔
Hodgkin lymphoma	84	81–88	84	81–88	*	*	85	82–89	84	81–87	↑
Multiple myeloma	33	30–36	33	31–36	29	18–48	38	35–42	41	38–43	↑↔
Acute leukaemia	42	38–46	49	45–53	40	30–53	44	40–50	46	43–49	↑↔
Other leukaemia	68	65–71	60	56–64	68	54–86	64	61–68	70	68–73	↑↔

↑ Increasing trend; ↔ Level trend; (if more arrows are presented for a cancer site the first indicate the dominating trend in the Nordic countries and the second most often the trend in Iceland).

*Too few cases to calculate survival.

Table III. Lowest and highest 5-year age-standardised relative survival ratio (RS) 1999–2003 in the Nordic countries* and percentage point difference. Nordic cancer survival study: Men.

	Lowest 5-year RS		Highest 5-year RS
Site	Country	RS	Country	RS	Percentage point difference high–low
Lip	Denmark	89	Fin/Nor/Swe	91	2
Tongue	Denmark	35	Finland	50	15
Salivary glands	Denmark	56	Sweden	64	8
Mouth	Denmark	41	Sweden	50	9
Pharynx	Norway	34	Finland	38	5
Oesophagus	Denmark	6	Sweden	11	5
Stomach	Denmark	14	Finland	26	12
Small intestine	Denmark	35	Finland	54	19
Colon	Denmark	49	Finland	59	10
Rectum and anus	Denmark	49	Fin/Nor/Swe	57	8
Liver	Denmark	3	Finland	8	5
Gallbladder and ducts	Denmark	10	Norway	14	4
Pancreas	Den/Nor/Swe	3	Sweden	4	1
Nose and sinuses	Finlandland	44	Denmark	54	10
Larynx	Denmark	60	Norway/Sweden	66	6
Lung	Denmark/Finland	8	Sweden	11	3
Pleura	Norway	2	Finland	6	4
Prostate	Denmark	53	Finland	86	33
Testis	Finland	88	Sweden	94	6
Penis and other genital	Finland	62	Norway	80	18
Kidney	Denmark	40	Finland	57	17
Bladder	Denmark	71	Finland/Sweden	74	3
Skin melanoma	Norway	78	Sweden	86	8
Eye	Denmark	69	Finland	83	14
Brain	Norway	45	Finland	52	7
Thyroid	Denmark	68	Norway	82	14
Bone	Norway	54	Sweden	64	10
Soft tissues	Denmark	61	Norway	66	5
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Denmark	50	Sweden	54	4
Hodgkin lymphoma	Denmark	80	Finland	85	5
Multiple myeloma	Denmark	28	Sweden	37	9
Acute leukaemia	Norway	38	Sweden	43	5
Other leukaemia	Finland	55	Sweden	68	13

*Iceland excluded due to small numbers and large random variation.

Table IV. Lowest and highest 5-year age-standardised relative survival ratio (RS) 1999–2003 in the Nordic countries* and percentage point difference. Nordic cancer survival study: Women.

	Lowest 5-year RS		Highest 5-year RS
Site	Country	RS	Country	RS	Percentage point difference high–low
Lip	Denmark	87	Finland	97	10
Tongue	Denmark	46	Finland	67	21
Salivary glands	Finland	65	Sweden	73	8
Mouth	Denmark	69	Finland	69	20
Pharynx	Norway	30	Finland	51	21
Oesophagus	Denmark	7	Finland	20	13
Stomach	Denmark	14	Finland	30	16
Small intestine	Denmark	35	Norway	55	20
Colon	Denmark	52	Finland	62	10
Rectum and anus	Denmark	53	Norway	63	10
Liver	Denmark	5	Norway	11	6
Gallbladder and ducts	Sweden	10	Finland/Norway	12	2
Pancreas	Denmark	3	Sweden	5	2
Nose and sinuses	Finland	52	Sweden	61	9
Larynx	Denmark	52	Norway	65	13
Lung	Denmark	9	Sweden	15	6
Pleura	Norway/Finland	8	Sweden	14	7
Breast	Denmark	79	Finland	86	7
Cervix uteri	Denmark	64	Norway	68	4
Corpus uteri	Denmark	79	Finland/Sweden	83	4
Ovary and tubes	Denmark	33	Finland	44	11
Other female genital	Finland	55	Norway	63	8
Kidney	Denmark	41	Finland	62	21
Bladder	Denmark	62	Finland	72	10
Skin melanoma	Norway	88	Sweden	92	4
Eye	Denmark	70	Finland	78	8
Brain	Denmark	61	Sweden	68	7
Thyroid	Denmark	77	Finland	90	13
Bone	Denmark	57	Sweden	68	11
Soft tissues	Sweden	63	Norway	71	8
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Denmark	55	Sweden	60	5
Hodgkin lymphoma	Den/Nor/Swe	84	Norway	85	1
Multiple myeloma	Denmark/Finland	33	Sweden	41	8
Acute leukaemia	Denmark	42	Finland	49	7
Other leukaemia	Finland	60	Sweden	70	10

*Iceland excluded due to small numbers and large random variation.

Table V. Excess mortality rates 1999–2003 per 100 person years; Follow-up interval first three months. Nordic cancer survival study.

	Men					Women
Site	Denmark	Finland	Iceland	Norway	Sweden	Denmark	Finland	Iceland	Norway	Sweden
Lip	2	8	0	1	4	3	0	35	0	0
Tongue	63	37	0	43	40	50	17	0	20	19
Salivary glands	29	26	0	26	17	14	31	0	17	15
Mouth	27	22	21	31	32	35	19	0	16	18
Pharynx	48	41	14	54	42	42	38	59	46	51
Oesophagus	138	139	95	116	104	141	96	79	109	85
Stomach	139	116	143	122	114	160	105	72	101	109
Small intestine	138	84	195	83	72	117	75	32	54	61
Colon	80	54	51	56	41	63	47	29	44	33
Rectum and anus	47	44	46	33	25	42	30	30	28	18
Liver	397	234	212	330	315	337	277	219	278	291
Gallbladder and ducts	197	196	117	207	180	206	178	202	181	194
Pancreas	299	279	248	281	257	253	232	177	229	214
Nose and sinuses	27	5	0	21	21	14	18	89	16	18
Larynx	18	26	0	16	16	40	30	0	8	22
Lung	188	165	132	174	140	176	143	130	168	117
Pleura	99	118	277	120	95	142	87	0	121	90
Breast						12	8	8	7	5
Cervix uteri						25	20	30	16	17
Corpus uteri						15	13	10	9	8
Ovary and tubes						79	71	60	66	44
Other female genital						36	50	0	23	21
Prostate	17	5	5	8	4
Testis	8	8	0	19	3
Penis and other genital	17	18	26	17	13
Kidney	91	67	40	72	64	95	57	54	63	49
Bladder	19	20	8	17	15	38	25	32	30	23
Skin melanoma	8	6	0	7	1	3	4	0	2	1
Eye	2	12	20	5	5	17	5	0	2	3
Brain	73	69	71	63	62	57	57	27	43	37
Thyroid	47	35	10	40	27	44	24	0	28	30
Bone	64	34	0	40	22	42	32	0	46	22
Soft tissue	34	36	16	26	23	30	24	0	16	28
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	66	69	36	59	42	52	64	58	48	38
Hodgkin lymphoma	20	15	50	11	16	23	16	0	17	7
Multiple myeloma	64	87	50	63	44	56	82	59	46	32
Acute leukaemia	110	103	56	147	76	119	97	111	133	73
Other leukaemia	31	66	31	49	20	30	65	32	37	20
All, case-mix adjusted	81	67	52	68	58	70	58	46	56	47
All excl prostate and breast cancer, case-mix adjusted	109	94	74	96	82	95	80	63	78	66

Table VI. Excess mortality rates 1999–2003 per 100 person years; Follow-up 2–5 years. Nordic cancer survival study.

	Men					Women
Site	Denmark	Finland	Iceland	Norway	Sweden	Denmark	Finland	Iceland	Norway	Sweden
Lip	3	2		3	2	2	0		2	1
Tongue	16	7		12	8	8	3		6	6
Salivary glands	8	5		10	5	6	3		6	5
Mouth	11	19		8	7	8	3	18	7	6
Pharynx	10	14		19	14	18	9		18	12
Oesophagus	35	21	20	22	20	33	17	44	19	20
Stomach	18	9	16	15	13	15	9	7	11	11
Small intestine	9	7		8	6	9	8		6	9
Colon	7	4	7	6	7	6	4	6	6	6
Rectum and anus	10	7	6	8	8	8	6	8	6	7
Liver	41	26	23	21	26	40	22		74	23
Gallbladder and ducts	28	18	31	22	18	18	19	7	20	17
Pancreas	26	30	10	31	26	22	36	44	26	31
Nose and sinuses	8	15	3	12	12	10	8		10	6
Larynx	7	6	8	5	5	7	5		6	8
Lung	21	25	22	24	20	22	19	29	17	16
Pleura	51	43		61	49	30	46		30	28
Breast						4	2	2	3	3
Cervix uteri						6	4	6	5	6
Corpus uteri						2	2	4	3	2
Ovary and tubes						15	11	22	14	14
Other female genital						7	4	12	6	6
Prostate	11	3	4	5	4
Testis	0	1		0	1
Penis and other genital	3	7		1	3
Kidney	10	5	7	6	6	8	4	8	5	5
Bladder	4	3	4	4	3	4	3	6	3	4
Skin melanoma	4	2	2	5	3	2	2	1	2	2
Eye	7	5		6	6	7	3		6	8
Brain	4	4	8	5	3	3	2	1	2	2
Thyroid	5	2	2	0	2	2	0	1	1	1
Bone	6	8		5	6	9	2		7	5
Soft tissue	6	5		5	6	5	4		3	6
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	8	7	9	9	8	8	5	7	8	6
Hodgkin lymphoma	3	3		3	3	2	2		3	3
Multiple myeloma	27	23	27	22	23	24	24	22	20	21
Acute leukaemia	11	8		18	11	12	8	18	12	12
Other leukaemia	8	9	7	8	7	7	7	7	7	6
All, case-mix adjusted	11	8	9	9	8	8	6	9	7	7
All excl prostate and breast cancer, case-mix adjusted	12	10	78	11	10	10	8	12	8	9

Figure 1. Five-year relative survival plotted against excess mortality rates in the first three months following diagnoses in 1999–2003 for cancer patients by country and sex with LOESS curves for the 15 most common cancer sites excluding prostate and breast cancer. Nordic cancer survival study.

Figure 2. Country-specific fitted LOESS curves to plots of 5-year relative survival against excess mortality rates in the first three months following diagnosis in 1999–2003 for male and female cancer patients of the 15 most common cancer sites excluding prostate and breast. Nordic cancer survival study.

Figure 3. Trends in the proportion of daily smokers in the Nordic countries by sex. (Sources: lines depict data from OECD (reference [36]) while the circles represent data from reference [38]).

Figure 4. Trends in alcohol consumption in the Nordic countries (Source: reference [36]).

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