Cancer patient survival in Estonia 1995-2009: time trends and data quality

Survival from most cancers in Estonia has been consistently below European average. The objective of this study was to examine recent survival trends in Estonia and to quantify the effect on survival estimates of the temporary disruption of the Estonian Cancer Registry (ECR) practices in 2001-2007 when death certificates could not be used for case ascertainment.

ECR data on all adult cases of 16 common cancers diagnosed in Estonia during 1995-2008 and followed up for vital status until 2009 were used to estimate relative survival ratios (RSR). We used cohort analysis for patients diagnosed in 1995-1999 and 2000-2004; and period hybrid approach to obtain the most recent estimates (2005-2009). We compared five-year RSRs calculated from data sets with and without death certificate initiated (DCI) cases.

A total of 64328 cancer cases were included in survival analysis. Compared with 1995-1999, five-year age-standardized RSR increased 20 percent units for prostate cancer, reaching 76% in 2005-2009. A rise of 10 percent units or more was also seen for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (five-year RSR 51% in 2005-2009), and cancers of rectum (49%), breast (73%) and ovary (37%). The effect of including/excluding DCI cases from survival analysis was small except for lung and pancreatic cancers.

Relative survival continued to increase in Estonia during the first decade of the 21st century, although for many cancers, a gap between Estonia and more affluent countries still exists. Cancer control efforts should aim at the reduction of risk factors amenable to primary prevention, but also at the improvement of early diagnosis and ensuring timely and optimal care to all cancer patients.