Incidence of and survival from oligodendroglioma in Denmark, 1943–2002

¹ Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark
² Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
³ Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Strandboulevarden 49, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: christof{at}cancer.dk.

	Abstract

We established the nationwide, population-based incidence of oligodendroglioma in Denmark during 59 years of monitoring and to compare the overall survival of patients with oligodendroglial tumors during the periods 1943­77 and 1978­99. On the basis of reports in the Danish Cancer Registry, 1304 cases of oligodendroglioma were included in the study. We calculated sex- and age-specific incidence rates in 5-year age intervals and for 5-year calendar periods. Overall survival was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. In the period 1943­2002, the incidence rate of oligodendroglioma is less than 1 case per 100,000 person years, although somewhat variable when viewed across isolated periods of time. A comparison of the incidence rate before and after the introduction of CT scanning did not reveal a significant difference in the incidence rate. The median survival increased from 1.4 years (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0­1.6) to 3.4 years (95% CI, 2.6­4.2) during the period of study. The overall incidence of oligodendroglioma showed a relatively stable pattern over nearly 60 years of monitoring. Overall survival improved significantly during the study period, which may partly be due to improved diagnostic methods and treatment options.

Key Words: Denmark, epidemiology, oligodendroglioma

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