The Incidence and Survival of Acute De Novo Leukaemias in Estonia and in a Well Defined Region of Western Sweden During 1982 - 1996: A Survey of Patients Aged 16 - 64 Years

• Published in: Leukemia & lymphoma Vol. 45; no. 5; pp. 915 - 921
• Main Authors: Wennström, Lovisa, Juntikka, Eva-Lena, Safai-Kutti, Soodabeh, Stockelberg, Dick, Holmberg, Erik, Luik, Ene, Everaus, Hele, Palk, Katrin, Varik, Mirja, Aareleid, Tiiu, Kutti, Jack
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Informa UK Ltd 01.05.2004; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Acute de novo leukaemia; Acute Disease; Adolescent; Adult; Delivery of Health Care - economics; Estonia; Estonia - epidemiology; Female; Humans; Incidence; Leukemia - economics; Leukemia - epidemiology; Leukemia - mortality; Male; Middle Aged; Socioeconomic Factors; Survival; Survival Analysis; Survival Rate; Sweden; Sweden - epidemiology; Sweden; Estonia
• ISSN: 1042-8194; 1029-2403
• DOI: 10.1080/10428190310001623865

In the present work the incidence and survival of acute de novo leukaemias in two neighbouring countries, were studied retrospectively over three 5-year periods, 1982-1996. The aim was to compare the above variables, particularly with respect to political/socio-economic and environmental factors, in a well defined area of Sweden, the so-called Western Swedish Health Care Region, with Estonia. Population-wise the Western Swedish Region and Estonia are very similar; area-wise they are also well comparable. The present report covers only patients diagnosed between the ages of 16-64 years. The number of acute de novo leukaemias in the two regions was quite similar (Western Sweden n = 282 and Estonia n = 237). The age standardized incidence rate regarding total acute de novo leukaemias was slightly lower in Estonia than in Western Sweden (1.49/100,000 inhabitants/year for Estonia and 1.76 for Sweden, respectively), the difference being not statistically significant. However, the survival data for the two countries were highly different (P < 0.001). Thus, the relative survival for the total group of patients aged 16-64 years in Estonia at 1 year was 20.7% and at 5 years 3.6%, respectively. The corresponding figures for the Swedish patients were considerably higher, 65.2 and 29.4%, respectively. Further, the 5 year survival significantly (P < 0.05) increased for the Swedish patients over the 3 consecutive 5-year periods. No such improvement was recorded for the Estonian patients.