Have the recent advancements in cancer therapy and survival benefitted patients of all age groups across the Nordic countries? NORDCAN survival analyses 2002-2021.

BACKGROUND: Since the early 2000s, overall and site-specific cancer survival have improved substantially in the Nordic countries. We evaluated whether the improvements have been similar across countries, major cancer types, and age groups. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Using population-based data from the five Nordic cancer registries recorded in the NORDCAN database, we included a cohort of 1,525,854 men and 1,378,470 women diagnosed with cancer (except non-melanoma skin cancer) during 2002-2021, and followed for death until 2021. We estimated 5-year relative survival (RS) in 5-year calendar periods, and percentage points (pp) differences in 5-year RS from 2002-2006 until 2017-2021. Separate analyses were performed for eight cancer sites (i.e. colorectum, pancreas, lung, breast, cervix uteri, kidney, prostate, and melanoma of skin). RESULTS: Five-year RS improved across nearly all cancer sites in all countries (except Iceland), with absolute differences across age groups ranging from 1 to 21 pp (all cancer sites), 2 to 20 pp (colorectum), -1 to 36 pp (pancreas), 2 to 28 pp (lung), 0 to 9 pp (breast), -11 to 26 pp (cervix uteri), 2 to 44 pp (kidney), -2 to 23 pp (prostate) and -3 to 30 pp (skin melanoma). The oldest patients (80-89 years) exhibited lower survival across all countries and sites, although with varying improvements over time. INTERPRETATION: Nordic cancer patients have generally experienced substantial improvements in cancer survival during the last two decades, including major cancer sites and age groups. Although survival has improved over time, older patients remain at a lower cancer survival compared to younger patients.

Risk of gastric carcinoma will be low in generations born at turn of the 20th and 21st centuries in Finland. Modelling NORDCAN data of the age group specific incidence rates of gastric cancer with PLS-regression and with attention to age ('age effect') and year of the birth ('cohort effect').

BACKGROUND AND METHODS: We examined in NORDCAN database how the annual age group-specific incidence rates (IR) of gastric cancer (GCA), and correspondingly the GCA risk, have declined in Finland during the twentieth century, and whether this decline corresponds to a decrease in the cohort-specific prevalence rate of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) gastritis that is considered an important precancerous risk condition for GCA. RESULTS: In modelling with partial least squares regression (PLSR), the logarithmically transformed IRs (ln(IR) of GCA were well explained with age and birth cohort as explanatory model variables. By considering the observed (actual) and the PLSR-modelled IRs, the IR of GCA (and the risk of GCA) has decreased gradually in Finland from 1900 onward, cohort by cohort. By prediction of the future with PLSR, the IRs of GCA will be markedly lower in all cohorts during the twenty-first century than in the twentieth century. By PLSR modelling, less than 10 GCA cases per 100,000 people are predicted to appear annually in cohorts (generations) born at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, even when these people will be 60-80 years old in the years 2060-2070. CONCLUSIONS: The IR of GCA and GCA risk progressively declined by cohort in Finland during the whole twentieth century. This decline corresponds in extent and time window to earlier observations in the decline of the prevalence rate of Hp gastritis in the same birth cohorts and supports the hypothesis of the role of Hp gastritis as an important risk condition of GCA.

Use of health services one year before primary colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) patient pathways focus typically on periods after confirmed diagnosis and only limited data are available on pathways prior to cancer diagnosis. The aim of the study was to describe the use of health services (HS) one year before diagnosis among CRC patients in Finland. We also studied the role of sex, age, stage, and university hospital district in relation to the use of HS during the pre-diagnostic phase. This information is expected to bring light on the question why CRC is often not found in its early stages. METHODS: Incident CRC cases (N = 3115) concerning year 2015 were retrieved from the Finnish Cancer Registry and linked with data from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare on primary or specialised care outpatient visits or inpatient episodes over one year prior to CRC diagnosis. We modelled the average number of HS events per patient using Poisson regression model with log-link. Change points for monthly HS event rates and 95% CIs one year before diagnosis were evaluated using Poisson broken line regression models. RESULTS: Around 10% of patients diagnosed in 2015 had no events prior to cancer leaving 2816 CRCs in the study. Of all pre-diagnostic events (N = 23268), 86% were outpatient events and 14% inpatient episodes. More than half of the inpatient episodes (65%) started as urgent admissions. The use of HS started to increase 3-4 months before diagnosis. The average number of pre-diagnostic HS events per patient varied by sex, age, stage and university hospital district. Overall, men had more events per patient than women and older patients had more events than younger patients. CONCLUSIONS: The amount of inpatient episodes starting as urgent admissions indicate potential bottlenecks in the access to health services. An increase in service use only 3-4 months prior to diagnosis reflects a need for advice both for health care professionals and the general population in recognising symptoms of CRC.

Periodic trends in geographical variation of prostate cancer incidence and mortality in Finland between 1985 and 2019.

BACKGROUND: Evaluation of regional variation of prostate cancer (PCa) incidence and PCa-specific mortality is essential in the assessment of equity in a national healthcare system. We evaluated PCa incidence and PCa-specific mortality between different municipalities and hospital districts in Finland over 1985-2019. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Men diagnosed with PCa in Finland from 1985 through 2019 were retrieved from Finnish Cancer Registry. Age-standardized PCa incidence and mortality rates were estimated by municipality and hospital district as well as municipality urbanization, education, and income level using hierarchical Bayesian modeling. Standard deviations (SD) of the regional rates were compared between periods from 1985-1989 to 2015-2019. RESULTS: We identified 123,185 men diagnosed with any stage PCa between 1985 and 2019. SD of PCa incidence rate (per 100,000 person-years) showed that the total variation of PCa incidence between different municipalities was substantial and varied over time: from 22.2 (95% CI, 17.1-27.8) in 1985-1989 to 56.5 (95% CI, 49.8-64.5) in 2000-2004. The SD of PCa mortality rate between all municipalities was from 9.0 (95% CI, 6.6-11.8) in 2005-2009 to 2.4 (95% CI, 0.9-4.8) in 2015-2019. There was a trend toward a lower PCa-specific mortality rate in municipalities with higher education level. DISCUSSION: Regional variation in the incidence rate of PCa became more evident after initiation of PSA testing in Finland, which indicates that early diagnostic practice (PSA testing) of PCa has been different in different parts of the country. Variation in the national PCa mortality rate was indeed recognizable, however, this variation diminished at the same time as the mortality rate declined in Finland. It seems that after the initiation period of PSA testing, PSA has equalized PCa mortality outcomes in Finland.

Incidence trends and risk factors of lung cancer in never smokers: Pooled analyses of seven cohorts.

The trends in incidence of lung cancer in never smokers are unclear as well as the significance of risk factors. We studied time trends in the incidence and risk factors of lung cancer in never smokers in Finland in a large, pooled cohort. We pooled data from seven Finnish health cohorts from the period between 1972 and 2015 with 106 193 never smokers. The harmonised risk factors included education, alcohol consumption, physical activity, height and BMI. We retrieved incident lung cancers from the nation-wide Finnish Cancer Registry. We estimated average annual percent change (AAPC) and the effects of risk factors on cause-specific hazard ratios (HRs) of lung cancer using Poisson regression. We detected 47 lung cancers in never smoking men (n = 31 859) and 155 in never smoking women (n = 74 334). The AAPC of lung cancer incidence was -3.30% (95% confidence interval [CI]: -5.68% to -0.88%, P = .009) in never smoking men and 0.00% (95% CI: -1.57% to 1.60%, P = .996) in never smoking women. Of the five studied risk factors only greater height in women had a statistically significant increased risk of lung cancer (multivariate HR = 1.84, 95%CI: 1.08 to 3.12). It is plausible that tobacco control measures focused on working places have reduced passive smoking among men more than among women, which could explain the declining trend in lung cancer incidence in never smoker men but not in never smoker women. As tobacco control measures have not been targeted to domestic environments, it is likely that women's exposure to passive smoking has continued longer.

Cancer Incidence and Mortality in the Oldest Old: A Nationwide Study in Finland.

The world's population is aging rapidly. This study reports the burden of cancer in the "oldest old" (aged ≥85 years) in Finland, 1953-2017, and estimates age-specific cancer rates in the older population (65-99 years) for 1988-2017. The Finnish Cancer Registry provided data on all cancer diagnoses, cancer deaths, and other deaths in cancer patients in Finland for 1953-2017. Between 1953-1957 and 2013-2017, the proportion of incident cancers in those aged ≥85 years increased from 1.5% to 9.6% (597 to 15,360 new cases), and in 2013-2017, more new cancers were diagnosed at ages ≥85 years than ages <50 years. Cancer incidence and excess mortality attributable to cancer peaked at ages 85-94 years and declined subsequently, whereas cancer-specific mortality continued to increase or plateaued. Due to demographic changes, the number of new cancers in the oldest old has increased substantially in Finland, and currently nearly 1 in 10 cancers are diagnosed in this age group. The increasing cancer burden in the oldest old poses a major challenge for health care and needs to be addressed in designing clinical research and reporting of cancer registries. In older populations with competing risks of death, we propose excess cancer mortality as a measure of cancer-related mortality.

Use of fertility drugs in early-onset female cancer survivors-A Finnish register-based study on 8,929 survivors.

Advances in multimodality cancer treatments have increased the risk of long-term complications in early-onset cancer survivors. For female cancer survivors, these include diminished reproductive function, often resulting in a narrowed fertile window. The aim of our study was to evaluate the use of fertility treatments in cancer survivors (aged 0-39 years at diagnosis) compared to siblings. Data from Finnish registers on cancer, birth and prescribed medications were merged to identify 8,929 survivors and 9,495 siblings without previous deliveries. Fertility drug purchases from 1993 to 2012 at the age of 16-41 years were included. A Poisson regression model was used to estimate incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for the use of fertility drugs, adjusting for age and calendar time at fertility drug purchase. Fertility treatments were more common in survivors compared to siblings, as 6.1% of survivors compared to 3.8% of siblings had bought fertility drugs (IRR 1.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.25-1.65). A subclassification of fertility treatments into ovulation inductions and assisted reproductive technology (ART), showed increased use of ART (IRR 2.41, 95% CI 1.97-2.96), whereas the use of ovulation induction was similar in survivors and siblings. Analyses by calendar time periods showed the use of ART to be significantly higher in the most recent decade, from 2003 onwards. We conclude that cancer survivors have an increased risk for subfertility, which is why fertility counseling is important. However, our results mirror a more active approach among clinicians towards fertility treatments in cancer survivors during the most recent years.

Familial aggregation of early-onset cancers.

This registry-linkage study evaluates familial aggregation of cancer among relatives of a population-based series of early-onset (≤40 years) cancer patients in Finland. A cohort of 376,762 relatives of early-onset cancer patients diagnosed between 1970 and 2012 in 40,538 families was identified. Familial aggregation of early-onset breast, colorectal, brain and other central nervous system (CNS) cancer and melanoma was explored by standardized incidence ratios (SIR), stratified by relatedness. Gender-, age- and period-specific population cancer incidences were used as reference. Cumulative risks for siblings and offspring of the proband up to age ≤40 years were also estimated. Almost all early-onset cancers were sporadic (98% or more). Among first-degree relatives, SIR was largest in colorectal cancer (14, 95% confidence interval 9.72-18), and lowest in melanoma (1.93, 1.05-3.23). Highest relative-specific SIRs were observed for siblings in families, where also parent had concordant cancer, 90 (43-165) for colorectal cancer and 29 (11-64) for CNS cancer. In spouses, all SIRs were at population level. Cumulative risk of colorectal cancer by age 41 was 0.98% in siblings and 0.10% in population, while in breast cancer the corresponding risks were 2.05% and 0.56%. In conclusion, early-onset cancers are mainly sporadic. Findings support high familial aggregation in early-onset colorectal and CNS cancers. Familial aggregation in multiplex families with CNS cancers was mainly attributed to neurofibromatosis and in colorectal cancer to FAP- and HNPCC-syndromes. The pattern of familial aggregation of early-onset breast cancer could be seen to support very early exposure to environmental factors and/or rare genetic factors.

Disparities in glioblastoma survival by case volume: a nationwide observational study.

INTRODUCTION: High hospital case volumes are associated with improved treatment outcomes for numerous diseases. We assessed the association between academic non-profit hospital case volume and survival of adult glioblastoma patients. METHODS: From the nationwide Finnish Cancer Registry, we identified all adult (≥ 18 years) patients with histopathological diagnoses of glioblastoma from 2000 to 2013. Five university hospitals (treating all glioblastoma patients in Finland) were classified as high-volume (one hospital), middle-volume (one hospital), and low-volume (three hospitals) based on their annual numbers of cases. We estimated one-year survival rates, estimated median overall survival times, and compared relative excess risk (RER) of death between high, middle, and low-volume hospitals. RESULTS: A total of 2,045 patients were included. The mean numbers of annually treated patients were 54, 40, and 17 in the high, middle, and low-volume hospitals, respectively. One-year survival rates and median survival times were higher and longer in the high-volume (39%, 9.3 months) and medium-volume (38%, 8.9 months) hospitals than in the low-volume (32%, 7.8 months) hospitals. RER of death was higher in the low-volume hospitals than in the high-volume hospital (RER = 1.19, 95% CI 1.07-1.32, p = 0.002). There was no difference in RER of death between the high-volume and medium-volume hospitals (p = 0.690). CONCLUSION: Higher glioblastoma case volumes were associated with improved survival. Future studies should assess whether this association is due to differences in patient-specific factors or treatment quality.

Variation in cancer survival between hospital districts and within them in Finland.

BACKGROUND: Monitoring regional variation in population-based cancer survival is useful for assessing equity in national health-care system. This study quantifies variation in survival between municipalities and hospital districts responsible for primary care and for specialised care, respectively, in Finland. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Five-year relative survival of 11 cancers and close to 700,000 patients was estimated by municipality in Finland over 1962-2016 using hierarchical Bayesian modelling. Variation (i) between hospital districts, (ii) between municipalities within hospital districts, and (iii) between all municipalities (total variation) were quantified by the standard deviation of 5-year relative survival standardised by the average survival level. RESULTS: In 2007-2016, the largest variation in 5-year relative survival between all municipalities was in stomach, prostate, kidney and liver cancer and skin melanoma. In male skin melanoma, prostate, and kidney cancer and in male and female pancreatic cancer, there was substantial and statistically significant variation between hospital districts, too. Variation within hospital districts was on average 67% (95% posterior interval [58%,76%]) out of the total variation and had decreased by 18% [2%, 33%] from 1997-2006. CONCLUSION: The decrease in variation within hospital districts suggests that equity in diagnostics and primary care has improved in Finland. However, the variation between hospital districts in skin melanoma, prostate and kidney cancer reflects differences in early diagnostics. In pancreatic cancer, substantial variation between hospital districts may relate to regional differences in the accessibility and the quality of cancer treatments.

Survival and mortality of elderly men with localized prostate cancer managed with primary androgen deprivation therapy or by primary observation.

BACKGROUND: Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) remains a primary treatment for localized prostate cancer (PCa) even though there is no evidence that its use is beneficial in the absence of curative treatment. METHODS: Men aged ≥70 years (n = 16,534) diagnosed with localized PCa from 1985 to 2014 and managed either with primary observation or ADT in the absence of curative treatment were included. The cases were identified from the population-based Finnish Cancer Registry. We estimated the standardized mortality ratios (SMR) for overall mortality by treatment group. We determined the relative risk (RR) of PCa-specific mortality (PCSM) and other-cause mortality between the two treatment groups. Survival was determined using the life table method. Two age groups (70-79 years and ≥ 80 years) and three calendar time cohorts (1985-1994, 1995-2004, and 2005-2014) were compared following adjustment of propensity score matching between the treatment groups with four covariates (age, year of diagnosis, educational level, and hospital district). Follow-up continued until death or until December 31, 2015. RESULTS: Patients in the observation group had lower overall SMRs than those in the ADT group in both age cohorts over the entire study period. PCSM was higher in men aged 70-79 years undergoing primary ADT compared to those managed by observation only (RR: 1.70, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.29-2.23 [1985-1994]; RR 1.55, 95% CI: 1.35-1.84 [1995-2004]; and RR 2.71, 95% CI: 2.08-3.53 [2005-2014]); p = 0.005 for periodic trend. A similar trend over time was also observed in men aged > 80 years; (p for age-period interaction = 0.237). Overall survival was also higher among men in their 70's managed by observation compared to those undergoing ADT. CONCLUSIONS: Primary ADT within four months period from diagnosis is not associated with improved long-term overall survival or decreased PCSM compared to primary conservative management for men with localized PCa. However, this observational study's conclusions should be weighted with confounding factors related to cancer aggressiveness and comorbidities.

Long-term excess mortality after chronic subdural hematoma.

OBJECTIVE: To assess possible long-term excess mortality and causes of death of patients with chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH). METHODS: A retrospective study (1990-2015) of adult patients (n = 1133, median age = 76 years old, men = 65%) with CSDH identified by ICD-codes and verified by medical records. All patients were followed until death or the end of 2017. Cumulative relative survival ratios and relative excess risks of death (RER) were estimated by comparing patients' mortality with that in the entire regional matched population. The causes of death were compared with a separate reference group formed by randomly choosing sex, age, and calendar time matched controls (4 controls per each CSDH patient). RESULTS: The median follow-up time was 4.8 years (range = 0-27 years), and 710 (63%) of the patients died (median age at death = 84 years old). The cumulative excess mortality was 1 year = 9%, 5 years = 18%, 10 years = 27%, 15 years = 37%, and 20 years = 48%. A subgroup of CSDH patients (n = 206) with no comorbidity had no excess mortality. Excess mortality was related to poor modified Rankin score at admission (RER = 4.93) and at discharge (RER = 8.31), alcohol abuse (RER = 4.47), warfarin (RER = 2.94), age ≥ 80 years old (RER = 1.83), non-operative treatment (RER = 1.56), and non-traumatic etiology (RER = 1.69). Hematoma characteristics or recurrence were unrelated to excess mortality. Dementia was the most common cause of death among the CSDH patients (21%) and the third most common cause in the reference group (15%, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with CSDH have continuous excess mortality up to 20 years after diagnosis. Patient-related characteristics have a strong association with excess mortality, whereas specific CSDH-related findings do not. CSDH patients have an increased risk for dementia-related mortality.

Estimating multilevel regional variation in excess mortality of cancer patients using integrated nested Laplace approximation.

Models of excess mortality with random effects were used to estimate regional variation in relative or net survival of cancer patients. Statistical inference for these models based on the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods is computationally intensive and, therefore, not feasible for routine analyses of cancer register data. This study assessed the performance of the integrated nested Laplace approximation (INLA) in monitoring regional variation in cancer survival. Poisson regression model of excess mortality including both spatially correlated and unstructured random effects was fitted to the data of patients diagnosed with ovarian and breast cancer in Finland during 1955-2014 with follow up from 1960 through 2014 by using the period approach with five-year calendar time windows. We estimated standard deviations associated with variation (i) between hospital districts and (ii) between municipalities within hospital districts. Posterior estimates based on the INLA approach were compared to those based on the MCMC simulation. The estimates of the variation parameters were similar between the two approaches. Variation within hospital districts dominated in the total variation between municipalities. In 2000-2014, the proportion of the average variation within hospital districts was 68% (95% posterior interval: 35%-93%) and 82% (60%-98%) out of the total variation in ovarian and breast cancer, respectively. In the estimation of regional variation, the INLA approach was accurate, fast, and easy to implement by using the R-INLA package.

Trends of colorectal cancer incidence by education and socioeconomic status in Finland.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate if the incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) is associated with education and socioeconomic status (SES) in Finland, and if there are any changes in incidence differences between the groups over the period 1976-2014.Material and methods: CRC cases (N = 77,614) were retrieved from the Finnish Cancer Registry and linked with information on the education level and SES from Statistics Finland. We used Poisson regression model to quantify differences in incidence rates between the groups, and to assess changes over calendar time.Results and conclusions: Colon cancer incidence was higher among the highly educated, than in those with basic education. Similar differences were observed by SES in men. Incidence rates increased steeply over time among men with basic education (from 16.7/100,000 in 1976-1979 to 31.8 in 2010-2014), resulting in narrowed differences between the groups (p < .001). Incidence trends of proximal and distal colon and rectal cancer in men showed similar patterns. Heterogeneity across time periods by SES was observed only in colon cancer incidence in men (p = .009). No such large differences were detected in women. Steep increase in colon cancer incidence in men with basic education, and the respective persistent high incidence in the highly educated highlights the importance of focusing the preventive measures on modifiable lifestyle factors in order to reduce CRC incidence and to narrow the educational and socioeconomic health differences.

The impact of socioeconomic status on stage specific prostate cancer survival and mortality before and after introduction of PSA test in Finland.

Socioeconomic status (SES) has an impact on prostate cancer (PCa) outcomes. Men with high SES have higher incidence and lower mortality of PCa versus lower SES males. PCa cases diagnosed in Finland in 1985-2014 (N = 95,076) were identified from the Finnish Cancer Registry. Information on education level (EL) was obtained from Statistics Finland. EL was assessed with three-tiered scale: basic, upper secondary and higher education. PCa stage at diagnosis was defined as localized, metastatic or unknown. Years of diagnosis 1985-1994 were defined as pre-PSA period and thereafter as post-PSA period. We report PCa-specific survival (PCSS) and relative risks (RR) for PCa specific mortality (PCSM) among cancer cases in Finland, where healthcare is 100% publicly reimbursed and inequality in healthcare services low. Men with higher EL had markedly better 10-year PCSS: 68 versus 63% in 1985-1994 and 90 versus 85% in 1995-2004 compared to basic EL in localized PCa. The RR for PCSM among men with localized PCa and higher EL compared to basic EL was 0.76(95%confidence interval (CI) 0.66-0.88) in 1985-1994 and 0.61(95%CI 0.53-0.70) in 1995-2004. Variation in PCSS and PCSM between EL categories was evident in metastatic PCa, too. The difference in PCSM between EL categories was larger in the first 10-year post-PSA period than before that but decreased thereafter in localized PCa, suggesting PSA testing became earlier popular among men with high EL. In summary, higher SES/EL benefit PCa survival both in local and disseminated disease and the effect of EL was more pronounced in early post-PSA period.

Comparing net survival estimators of cancer patients.

The net survival of a patient diagnosed with a given disease is a quantity often interpreted as the hypothetical survival probability in the absence of causes of death other than the disease. In a relative survival framework, net survival summarises the excess mortality that patients experience compared with their relevant reference population. Based on follow-up data from the Finnish Cancer Registry, we derived simulation scenarios that describe survival of patients in eight cancer sites reflecting different excess mortality patterns in order to compare the performance of the classical Ederer II estimator and the new estimator proposed by Pohar Perme et al. At 5 years, the age-standardised Ederer II estimator performed equally well as the Pohar Perme estimator with the exception of melanoma in which the Pohar Perme estimator had a smaller mean squared error (MSE). At 10 and 15 years, the age-standardised Ederer II performed most often better than the Pohar Perme estimator. The unstandardised Ederer II estimator had the largest MSE at 5 years. However, its MSE was often superior to those of the other estimators at 10 and 15 years, especially in sparse data. Both the Pohar Perme and the age-standardised Ederer II estimator are valid for 5-year net survival of cancer patients. For longer-term net survival, our simulation results support the use of the age-standardised Ederer II estimator.

Long-Term Excess Mortality After Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: Patients With Multiple Aneurysms at Risk.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There is high case-fatality rate and loss of productive life-years related to aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) but data on long-term survival of patients with aSAH are scarce. We aim to evaluate long-term excess mortality and related risk factors after an aSAH event. METHODS: Survivors (n=3078) of aSAH who had survived for ≥1 year were reviewed for this retrospective follow-up study, which was conducted in the Department of Neurosurgery in Helsinki between 1980 and 2007. Follow-up started 1 year after the aSAH and continued until death or the end of 2012 (48 918 patient-years). Mortality and relative survival ratios were derived using a matched general population. RESULTS: Survivors of aSAH after 20 years showed 17% excess mortality compared with the general population. Even young patients and patients with good recovery showed excess mortality. The highest excess mortality was among patients with multiple aneurysms, old age, poor preoperative clinical condition, conservative aneurysm treatment, and unfavorable clinical outcome at 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: Even after initially favorable recovery from an aSAH, survivors experience excess mortality in the long run in comparison to a matched general population. Cardiovascular disease at younger age and cerebrovascular events were overrepresented as causes of death, which indicates the importance of treatment of vascular risk factors. Young patients and patients with multiple aneurysms who are recovering from an aSAH should be followed-up and treated most actively.

Chernobyl fallout and cancer incidence in Finland.

Twenty-five years have passed since the Chernobyl accident, but its health consequences remain to be well established. Finland was one of the most heavily affected countries by the radioactive fallout outside the former Soviet Union. We analyzed the relation of the estimated external radiation exposure from the fallout to cancer incidence in Finland in 1988-2007. The study cohort comprised all ∼ 3.8 million Finns who had lived in the same dwelling for 12 months following the accident (May 1986-April 1987). Radiation exposure was estimated using data from an extensive mobile dose rate survey. Cancer incidence data were obtained for the cohort divided into four exposure categories (the lowest with the first-year committed dose <0.1 mSv and the highest ≥ 0.5 mSv) allowing for a latency of 5 years for leukemia and thyroid cancer, and 10 years for other cancers. Of the eight predefined cancer sites regarded as radiation-related from earlier studies, only colon cancer among women showed an association with exposure from fallout [excess rate ratio per increment in exposure category 0.06, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.02-0.11]. No such effect was observed for men, or other cancer sites. Our analysis of a large cohort over two decades did not reveal an increase in cancer incidence following the Chernobyl accident, with the possible exception of colon cancer among women. The largely null findings are consistent with extrapolation from previous studies suggesting that the effect is likely to remain too small to be empirically detectable and of little public health impact.