Stable glioma incidence and increased patient survival over the past two decades in Norway: a nationwide registry-based cohort study

Authors

  • Erlend Skaga Vilhelm Magnus Laboratory for Neurosurgical Research and Department of Neurosurgery, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3942-3492
  • Cassia B. Trewin-Nybråten Department of Registration, Cancer Registry of Norway, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
  • Pitt Niehusmann Department of Pathology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
  • Tom Børge Johannesen Department of Registration, Cancer Registry of Norway, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
  • Kirsten Marienhagen Department of Oncology, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway
  • Leif Oltedal Mohn Medical Imaging and Visualization Centre, Department of Radiology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
  • Stephanie Schipman Department of Neurosurgery, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; Medical Faculty, University Hospital Muenster, Germany
  • Anne Jarstein Skjulsvik Department of Pathology, St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway; Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
  • Ole Solheim Department of Neurosurgery, St. Olavs University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway; Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
  • Tora Skeidsvoll Solheim Cancer Clinic, St. Olavs University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway; Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
  • Terje Sundstrøm Department of Neurosurgery, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
  • Einar O. Vik-Mo Vilhelm Magnus Laboratory for Neurosurgical Research and Department of Neurosurgery, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Institute for Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
  • Petter Brandal Department of Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Institute for Cancer Genetics and Informatics, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
  • Tor Ingebrigtsen Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway; Department of Neurosurgery, Otorhinolaryngology and Ophthalmology, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2340/1651-226X.2024.24970

Keywords:

Cancer registries, glioma, cancer incidence, cancer survival, glioma epidemiology

Abstract

Background: Surveillance of incidence and survival of central nervous system tumors is essential to monitor disease burden and epidemiological changes, and to allocate health care resources. Here, we describe glioma incidence and survival trends by histopathology group, age, and sex in the Norwegian population.

Material and methods: We included patients with a histologically verified glioma reported to the Cancer Registry of Norway from 2002 to 2021 (N = 7,048). Population size and expected mortality were obtained from Statistics Norway. Cases were followed from diagnosis until death, emigration, or 31 December 2022, whichever came first. We calculated age-standardized incidence rates (ASIR) per 100,000 person-years and age-standardized relative survival (RS). 

Results: The ASIR for histologically verified gliomas was 7.4 (95% CI: 7.3–7.6) and was higher for males (8.8; 95% CI: 8.5–9.1) than females (6.1; 95% CI: 5.9–6.4). Overall incidence was stable over time. Glioblastoma was the most frequent tumor entity (ASIR = 4.2; 95% CI: 4.1–4.4). Overall, glioma patients had a 1-year RS of 63.6% (95% CI: 62.5–64.8%), and a 5-year RS of 32.8% (95% CI: 31.6–33.9%). Females had slightly better survival than males. For most entities, 1- and 5-year RS improved over time (5-year RS for all gliomas 29.0% (2006) and 33.1% (2021), p < 0.001). Across all tumor types, the RS declined with increasing age at diagnosis.

Interpretation: The incidence of gliomas has been stable while patient survival has increased over the past 20 years in Norway. As gliomas represent a heterogeneous group of primary CNS tumors, regular reporting from cancer registries at the histopathology group level is important to monitor disease burden and allocate health care resources in a population.

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Published

2024-03-19

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Skaga, E., Trewin-Nybråten, C. B., Niehusmann, P., Johannesen, T. B., Marienhagen, K., Oltedal, L., Schipman, S., Skjulsvik, A. J., Solheim, O., Solheim, T. S., Sundstrøm, T., Vik-Mo, E. O., Petter Brandal, & Ingebrigtsen, T. (2024). Stable glioma incidence and increased patient survival over the past two decades in Norway: a nationwide registry-based cohort study. Acta Oncologica, 63(1), 83–94. https://doi.org/10.2340/1651-226X.2024.24970

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Vol. 63 (2024): Acta Oncologica

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Copyright (c) 2024 Erlend Skaga, Cassia B. Trewin-Nybråten, Pitt Niehusmann, Tom Børge Johannesen, Kirsten Marienhagen, Leif Oltedal, Stephanie Schipman, Anne Jarstein Skjulsvik, Ole Solheim, Tora Skeidsvoll Solheim, Terje Sundstrøm, Einar O. Vik-Mo, Petter Brandal, Tor Ingebrigtsen

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