Variation in survival of adult patients with haematological malignancies in Europe since 1978. EUROCARE Working Group.

Data on 73,070 patients for seven major haematological malignancies diagnosed in Europe between 1985 and 1989 from 39 population-based cancer registries in 17 countries are included in the EUROCARE database. Relative survival was analysed by country and age between 1985 and 1989 and time trends were analysed from 1978-1989 for 13 countries which collaborated in EUROCARE for this entire period. The European weighted age-standardised 5-year relative survival rate was 72% for patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD, ranging from 45 to 76% in 13 countries), 63% for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL, range 51-79%, 14 countries), 46% for patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL, range 25-63%, 17 countries), 31% for patients with chronic myelocytic leukaemia (CML, range 8-40%, 13 countries), 28% for patients with multiple myeloma (MM, range 18-36%, 14 countries), 25% for patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL, range 19-33%, 7 countries) and 10% for patients with acute myeloblastic leukaemia (AML, range 4-15%, 11 countries). In all countries, relative survival declined with age, most markedly for patients with acute leukaemias. Patients in Northern and Western Europe had better survival rates, particularly in younger patients (15-45 years of age), whilst those in Eastern European countries tended to have poorer rates. Compared with 1978-1979, relative 5-year survival improved in 1987-1989 for most haematological malignancies (relative risk (RR) of death for CLL 0.65, AML 0.75, HD 0.76, ALL 0.79, NHL 0.82), with only CML (RR 0.95) and MM (RR 1.00) showing little or no change. These results suggest that generally and particularly in Eastern Europe there is room for improvement in the diagnosis and treatment of haematological malignancies. The intercountry differences also highlight the importance of socio-economic conditions to health status.