Hodgkin's Disease in Norway

Abstract.Recorded mortality from Hodgkin's disease in Norway since 1931 showed at ages less than 50 years an increase until 1951–1955 and at ages 50 and over an increase throughout the period 1931–1965. The main features of the trends in recorded mortality are compatible with the effects of improved possibilities for the recognition of the disease. A series of 820 cases of Hodgkin's disease notified to the Cancer Registry of Norway as diagnosed during the period 1953–1963 is reported on. All cases were histologically diagnosed. Age‐specific incidence rates of Hodgkin's disease exhibit a characteristic bimodal curve. Both in males and females the incidence rates increased rapidly from age 10–15 and reached a peak at age 20–30. After age 40–50 the incidence started increasing again with increasing age. From age 20 the incidence was higher in males than in females. For malignant lymphomas as a group—and the findings for Hodgkin's disease were in line with those for the other lymphomas—the incidence at ages less than 55 was higher in single women than in women who had ever married. A grouping by county of residence did not reveal any marked geographical differences in average incidence. No special seasonal pattern in the occurrence of Hodgkin's disease was detected. The distribution of cases by county of residence and time of diagnosis (2‐year intervals) suggests a clustering of newly diagnosed cases in time and space. For cases diagnosed in 1953–1958 relative survival rates were highest in patients less than 65 years of age. For the age group less than 45 the 5‐year survival rate, from the time of diagnosis, was 30 percent for males and 44 for females.