IMPROVING SURVIVAL FOR CHILDHOOD-CANCER IN SLOVAKIA

Data from the National Cancer Registry of Slovakia were used to evalua te survival for 2,958 childhood cancer patients registered between 196 8 and 1987 and aged 0-14 years at diagnosis. Actuarial survival rates were computed for children diagnosed in 4 successive 5-year periods an d compared. Overall 5-year survival rose from 20% for the period 1968- 1972 to 46% for the period 1983-1987. The increase was statistically s ignificant in age groups 1-4, 5-9 and 10-14 years. Survival for childr en aged less than year also increased slightly, but this was not stati stically significant. In most of the major diagnostic groups, survival increased markedly. Five-year survival rose significantly for leukaem ias, lymphomas, CNS neoplasms, Wilms' tumours, bone tumours, soft-tiss ue sarcomas and germ-cell tumours. Despite this progress, survival in Slovakia remains lower than the corresponding figures from registries in Western Europe and the United States. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.