Survival of Danish cancer patients 1943-1987. Urinary tract

The 15,160 males and females diagnosed with kidney cancer in Denmark in the period 1943-87, and eligible for inclusion were covered in the analysis. Crude and relative five-year survival from this cancer has improved with calendar time, especially for men. For patients diagnosed in 1943-47, the relative five-year survival was 18% for men and 29% for women; for those diagnosed in 1983-87, it had improved to 35 and 36%, respectively. Patients with localized tumours at the time of diagnosis had a more favourable prognosis than those with disseminated disease, with a five-year survival of 51% for men and 53% for women; people of each sex with metastatic disease had a five-year survival of only 3%. Treatment of kidney cancer throughout the period was surgical removal of the kidney and lymph nodes. The moderate improvement in survival seen with calendar time may be due to better, more efficient surgical techniques. The 32,701 patients diagnosed with cancer of the urinary bladder in 1943-87 and included in the study experienced a marked improvement in crude five-year survival: for both men and women, from 24% for patients diagnosed in 1943-47 to 47% for those diagnosed in 1983-87. Patients whose tumours were localized at the time of diagnosis in 1978-87 had a more favourable prognosis, with survival after 10 years of 36% (men) and 43% (women), than patients with metastatic disease with 10-year survival of less than 1% (men and women). The treatment of bladder tumours underwent a number of changes during the study period. The improvement in survival with calendar time may be due to more efficient treatment, although registration artefacts cannot be excluded.