By Anne Sophie Lind Helligsø, Line Kenborg, Louise Tram Henriksen, Aparna Udupi, Henrik Hasle, Jeanette Falck Winther
Each year approx. 50 children with brain or spinal cord tumors in Denmark. Several have reported increasing incidence over the past decades in other countries. We have investigated incidence, survival and information on treatment of brain and spinal cord tumors in children over a 23-year period using data from the Danish Childhood Cancer Register. We found a continued high but stable incidence in Denmark from 1997 to 2019 of 42.1 per million person-years. About a third (39.4%) were treated with surgery alone and 30.9% received treatment with radiation. Five-year survival for all brain and spinal cord tumors was 77.6%. Survival has improved from 2009–2019 compared to 1997–2008. However, some tumor types still have a very poor survival rate. Epidemiological studies that monitor incidence and survival over time are important, as they can provide us with information on e.g. access to the health system and opportunities for diagnosis and treatment compared to other countries. The study can also form the basis for other studies investigating etiology.