Development of cancer survival in Finland has not kept up with other Nordic countries

Background  Cancer survival in Finland has improved over the years. This has also improved elsewhere and it is thus important to compare Finnish survival with international development. The other Nordic countries represent natural comparators. 

Methods   The Nordic cancer registries have founded a joint Nordcan register from which we collected 5-year survival data on the Nordic countries. 

Results  Finnish male survival for all cancer types (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) was lowest among the Nordic countries in 2016–2020. Survival in 24 male cancer types in 2016–2020 was significantly lowest in Finland for 4 cancers (lung cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, myeloma, chronic lymphoid leukemia). The situation for female survival in all cancer types was similar although the differences between countries were lower than for men. Among 27 female cancer types, Finnish survival figures were significantly worst for 3 cancers (lung cancer, myeloproliferative disease, chronic lymphoid leukemia). 

Conclusions   Finland has not been able to keep up with the development of cancer survival of the other Nordic countries. Cancer survival is essentially influenced by the stage at diagnosis and treatment, and, presumably, differences to other Nordic countries are found in both. The situation calls for urgent investigation for which expertise from the neighbouring countries may be valuable.

Kari Hemminki, Peeter Karihtala, Akseli Hemminki