Every year, around 350 children in Sweden get cancer. It has long been the disease that causes the most deaths among children between the ages of 1 and 14. But figures from the Swedish Childhood Cancer Registry show that five-year survival - the proportion who are alive five years after being diagnosed - has increased from 85 to 88 percent between the most recent measurement periods.
One explanation for better survival is that development has progressed for some of the unusual but serious diagnoses such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of cancer in the nervous system outside the brain.
Milder treatment
According to Kogner, it is about advances in diagnostics and more precise treatments. Today, there are treatments that target specific mutations. Treatment has shifted from basing therapy on the tumor's location to focusing more on the biology of the tumor.
Increased understanding of the immune system in children and new immunotherapies also mean that we can cure more people, says Per Kogner, professor at Karolinska Institutet and pediatric oncologist at Astrid Lindgren's Children's Hospital.
Advertisement
In addition to increasing survival, a goal for clinicians and researchers is to reduce late side effects, which can occur many years after treatment has ended.
By using targeted medications instead of harsh radiation and heavy chemotherapy, the chances of children living healthy adult lives increase, he says.
Researchers, companies and healthcare
He points to collaboration between researchers around the world, healthcare and pharmaceutical companies as crucial.
It is not enough that we know everything about a form of cancer; we also need someone to develop a treatment and studies that include children with cancer, he says.
Advertisement
The figures show the change between the years 2016 to 2020 and the period 2011 to 2015.
This means that improvements that have occurred after 2020 are not yet reflected in the statistics, says Kim Ramme, Head of Research at the Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation.
Petra Hedbom/TT
Facts: Cancer among children
TT
Survival in childhood cancer is measured in five-year survival - the proportion of children who are alive five years after being diagnosed. Five-year survival has increased to 88 percent for the diagnosis period 2016–2020, compared to just over 85 percent diagnosed in 2011–2015.
Cancer is the disease that causes the most deaths among children between the ages of 1 and 14 in Sweden.
Over 350 children get cancer every year in Sweden.
More than 50 children die each year from their cancer.
750–800 children are currently undergoing treatment for cancer in Sweden.
88 percent of children who get cancer survive.
AML affects 10 to 15 children per year.
Neuroblastoma affects 15 to 20 children per year.
Source: Swedish Childhood Cancer Registry, Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation
