CLINICAL NEWS
Weighing the Global Cancer
Burden: CONCORD-3 Finds
Cancer Survival Varies by
Location
Five-year cancer survival rates are
increasing globally, but disparities exist
between regions, according to results
from the CONCORD-3 global cancer
surveillance program published in The
Lancet. CONCORD-3 is the largest
international study of cancer survival
trends, including data on more than 37.5
million patients diagnosed with cancer
between 2000 and 2014.
Participating countries were home to
two-thirds of the world’s population in 2014,
according to Claudia Allemani, PhD, of
the Department of Non-Communicable
Disease Epidemiology at the London
School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine,
and co-authors.
The study included data from 322
population-based cancer registries of
71 countries and territories; 47 of these
registries covered 100 percent of the
population. The analysis included data
on 18 common cancers that together
represent 75 percent of all diagnosed
cancers worldwide, including melanomas
and esophageal, stomach, colon, rectal,
liver, pancreatic, lung, breast, cervical,
ovary, and prostate cancers in adults; and
brain tumors, leukemias, and lymphomas
in adults and children. Patients with in
situ cancer were excluded from survival
analyses.
Registries were asked to submit data
with follow-up for at least five years or
through December 31, 2014, for patients
diagnosed between 2010 and 2014.
Outcomes data were stratified by time
period: 2000 to 2004, 2005 to 2009, and
2010 to 2014.
The authors estimated net survival
up to five years after cancer diagnosis,
correcting for “background mortality”
(other causes of death). This benchmark
“has been recognized by clinicians as an
index of the effectiveness of the treat-
ment of cancer,” the authors noted.
This study builds on CONCORD-2,
which evaluated survival trends for 10
cancers between 1995 and 2014. The
CONCORD-3 update includes data on
adult and pediatric lymphoma outcomes
for the first time.
“Survival for most cancers remains
among the highest in the world in the
U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zea-
land, and in Finland, Iceland, Norway,
and Sweden,” the researchers wrote of
their findings. However, cancer incidence
across the world is continuing to rise.
ASHClinicalNews.org
“Prevention is crucial, but implementa-
tion has been slow and incomplete, even
in high-income countries. Prevention is
a long-term strategy, and not all cancers
can be prevented.”
Reported here are the findings for
hematologic malignancies in adults
(defined as 15-99 years) and children
included in the CONCORD program.
HELP
HEMATOLOGY
PATIENTS
FIND YOU!
Myeloid Malignancies
CONCORD-3 included 1,151,226 adults
from 286 registries in 61 countries. Dur-
ing the 2010 to 2014 period, five-year,
age-standardized survival rates were
highest in France (57.5%) and lowest in
Chile (16.5%). Survival rates were within
the 30 to 50 percent range for most coun-
tries; however, countries in southeast
Asia consistently had survival rates lower
than 30 percent.
“It is crucial
for national
and regional
governments
to recognize
that population-
based cancer
registries are key
policy tools.”
—CLAUDIA ALLEMANI, PhD
Over the 15 years of the CONCORD-3
analysis, five-year survival rates increased
by 5 to 10 percent in the following
countries: U.S., China, Japan, Singapore,
Taiwan; northern Europe (Ireland and
the U.K.); southern Europe (Portugal and
Spain); eastern Europe (Poland); western
Europe (Austria, Belgium, and Germa-
ny), and Australia.
Korea, Denmark, the Netherlands,
and Norway saw increases greater than
10 percent, and “survival increased dra-
matically in Lithuania (27.4%), Sweden
ASH members can help patients find their
hematology practice by signing up to be
included in ASH’s Find a Hematologist
directory.
Visit www.hematology.org/Patients/FAH.aspx
to add your information!
ASH Clinical News
25