Incidence trends of vestibular schwannomas in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden in 1987-2007

• Published in: British journal of cancer Vol. 105; no. 7; pp. 1069 - 1075
• Main Authors: Larjavaara, S, Feychting, M, Sankila, R, Johansen, C, Klaeboe, L, Schüz, J, Auvinen, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 27.09.2011; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 692/699/67/1459/1963; 692/699/67/2324; Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Age groups; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Brain research; Cancer Research; Child; Child, Preschool; Denmark - epidemiology; Drug Resistance; Epidemiology; Female; Finland - epidemiology; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Incidence; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Male; Medical research; Medical sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Middle Aged; Molecular Medicine; Mortality - trends; Neurology; Neuroma, Acoustic - epidemiology; Norway - epidemiology; Nuclear accidents & safety; Oncology; Prognosis; Radiation; Registration; Risk Factors; Survival Rate; Sweden - epidemiology; Trends; Tumors; Tumors of the nervous system. Phacomatoses; Young Adult; Denmark; Sweden; Norway; Europe; Finland; acoustic; neuroma; registries; incidence; Nervous system diseases; Cancerology; Register; Neurinoma; acoustic: incidence; Neuroma; Benign neoplasm; Epidemiology; Incidence
• ISSN: 0007-0920; 1532-1827; 1532-1827
• DOI: 10.1038/bjc.2011.344

Background: The reported incidence rates of vestibular schwannomas (VS) vary substantially, but it is unclear as to what extent the variation reflects differences in risk or recording practices. Our aim was to describe the incidence rates of VS in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden between 1987 and 2007. Methods: Comprehensive data were available from all registries only for the period from 1987 to 2007. An analysis of a longer time period (1965–2007) was conducted with the Norwegian and Swedish data. Results: The average age-standardised incidence rates during 1987–2007 varied from 6.1 per 1 000 000 person-years (95% confidence interval (CI), 5.4–6.7) among Finnish men to 11.6 (95% CI, 10.4–12.7) in Danish men, and from 6.4 per 1 000 000 person-years (95% CI, 5.7–7.0) among Swedish women to 11.6 (95% CI, 10.5–12.8) among Danish women. An overall annual increase of 3.0% (95% CI 2.1–3.9) was observed when all countries and both sexes were combined, with considerable differences between countries. However, the practices of both reporting and coding VS cases varied markedly between countries and over time, which poses a challenge for interpretation of the results. Conclusion: The overall incidence of VS increased in all the four Nordic countries combined between 1987 and 2007, with marked differences between countries. However, the incidence rates more or less stabilised in the late 1990s, showing relatively constant incidence rates and even some decline after 2000.