Survival of children with neuroblastoma. time trends and regional differences in Europe, 1978--1992.

Neuroblastoma is one of the most common solid cancers in children. We present the data collected for the EUROCARE II study, describing survival patterns for children diagnosed in Europe 1985--1989 in detail, and exploring time trends from 1978 to 1992. On average, the mean 5-year survival rate was considerably higher in infants (79%) compared with older children (30--33%). The risk of death has dropped by 37% from 1978--1981 to 1990--1992. There is a pronounced difference between countries, with Scotland and England and Wales having two of the lowest survival rates (28% (95% confidence interval (CI) 14--48) and 36% (95% CI 31--41) 5-year survival rates, respectively). The survival rates in France, Germany and Italy (48--66% 5-year survival rate) were among the highest. This pattern corresponds to the incidence rates for these countries. It can be assumed that in neuroblastoma, both incidence and survival are related to the frequency of diagnosing asymptomatic cases with good prognosis among infants. However, one cannot ignore possible intercountry differences in the effectiveness of therapy.