Increasing survival trend after cancer diagnosis in Sweden: 1960-1984.

We analyzed the survival trend after cancer was diagnosed by complete follow-up through 1986 of 591,456 (99.4%) of all those patients in whom a first malignant disease was diagnosed in Sweden from 1960 to 1984. From 1960-1964 to 1980-1984, the 5-year relative survival increased from 34.2% to 47.1% in males and from 48.7% to 56.9% in females. The mean loss of expected life among cancer patients decreased from 9.6 to 7.0 years. During the first 5 years after diagnosis, the cancer-specific hazard rate decreased by 34% in males and 30% in females. Thus several analytical approaches revealed a substantial increase in cancer patient survival since 1960.