Comparison of Cancer Survival Trends in Hungary in the Periods 2001–2005 and 2011–2015 According to a Population-Based Cancer Registry

Background: Assessment of population-based cancer survival may provide the most valuable feedback about the effectiveness of oncological surveillance and treatment. Aims: Based on the database of the Hungarian National Cancer Registry, standardized incidence rates of lung, breast, colorectal, prostate and cervical cancer were compared to standardized mortality data of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office in the period between 2001 and 2015. Then survival analysis was performed on cleansed database. Results: The incidence of colorectal, breast and prostate cancer increased, while standardized rates of lung and cervical cancer declined. The survival of colorectal, breast and prostate cancer showed improvement. Contrarily, lung cancer exhibited a mild decline, while that of cervical cancer did not change significantly. In earlier stages survival was improved among almost every studied tumor type, while in advanced stages improvement was not observed. Comparison of stage distribution revealed that in the 2011–2015 period colorectal, breast and prostate cancer cases were diagnosed at earlier stages, while lung and cervical cancer patients were typically discovered at more advanced stages. Discussion: The outcome of advanced cancer treatments is better in earlier stages, which highlighted the importance of screening network. However, growth of oncological treatment costs with longer patient survival imposes a constantly increasing burden on society.