New report: Cancer in Norway 2018

Cancer Registry of Norway has released the report Cancer in Norway. These are the main points. 

Since the 1950s, Cancer Registry of Norway has published statistical reports of the cancer incidence in Norway almost annually. The past 14 editions of these reports can be found online on the Cancer Registry’s official report page.

In 2018, 34 190 new cancer cases were reported. In order to understand how cancer changes over time in the population, the Cancer Registry examines rates over five-year periods.

Differences between men and women

18 321 men were diagnosed with cancer in 2018.

These are the most common cancer types among men:

  • Prostate cancer, 27,9%
  • Lung cancer, 9,3%
  • Colon cancer, 7,9%
  • Cancer in the urinary tract, 6,9%
  • Skin cancer, non-melanoma, 6,1%

In men, the rates for all cancers combined have been stable. Rates for prostate and lung cancer are decreasing, and so are the rates for rectum cancer, while the trend for colon cancer points slightly upwards.

15 869 women were diagnosed with cancer in 2018.

These are the most common cancer types among women:

  • Breast cancer, 22,3%
  • Colon cancer, 10,1%
  • Lung cancer, 10,0%
  • Melanoma, 6,8%
  • Skin cancer, non-melanoma, 6,4%

There has been a 5,6% increase in the rates among women from the previous five-year period to the most recent one. This reflects increased rates of breast, colon, lung and skin cancer.

Cancer rates by immigrant group

This year the report Cancer in Norway presents cancer rates by immigrant group for the first time.

At the beginning of 2019 immigrants represented 14,3% of the Norwegian population. According to Statistics Norway, about 48% of the immigrants are from Europe, 14% from Africa and 34% from Asia, leaving another 4% from the rest of the world.

Immigrants from outside Europe tend to have lower cancer rates than people born in Norway, the report shows.

In the report foreword Giske Ursin, Director of Cancer Registry of Norway, writes:

“Cancer is predominantly a disease caused by western lifestyle and environment, and many immigrants bring with them a healthier lifestyle associated with lower cancer rates. We may all profit from learning and adapting to a healthier lifestyle.”

Although long-term trends among immigrants tend to be favourable, there are some noteworthy exceptions, according to the report. Immigrants from countries with high smoking prevalence, such as a number of the Eastern European countries, have higher rates of lung cancer.

Socioeconomic factors also matter

The special issue of the report goes in depth on rates among immigrants and also by socioeconomic factors. These factors also matter, according to Giske Ursin:

“We know that socioeconomic status plays a role for several cancers, and a key question is whether there are independent effects linked to income, education and immigrant status. We therefore examine all three factors. We found that a number of cancers are more common among those who have short education or low income. However, we found that the differences between immigrant groups remain after adjustment for socioeconomic factors.”

This information can be used to reduce cancer risk, according to the Cancer Registry – but one size does not fit all in terms of prevention. Ursin writes:

“We need a more targeted approach if we are to prevent cancer in all population subgroups at higher risk of cancer.”

Read the report

  • Cancer in Norway 2018 – Cancer incidence, mortality, survival and prevalence in Norway is available in a printed version. The report is free of charge, and can be ordered by sending an email to kreftregisteret@kreftregisteret.no
  • Or download the report, in English and Norwegian, from the website of the Cancer Registry of Norway
  • The special issue part about immigrants and socioeconomic factors is only available in Norwegian for the time being

 

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Geir Harstad, CEO of Smartfish, is encouraged by clinical study results indicating that the company's medical nutrition has the potential to enhance the efficacy of standard cancer treatments. Photo: Smartfish

Smartfish with clinical study results

Geir Harstad, CEO of Smartfish,

A new clinical study indicates that medical nutrition can improve overall survival in lung cancer patients. 

Oslo Cancer Cluster member Smartfish AS presented the results from a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial in the beginning of September. It evaluated one of the company’s medical nutrition products in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (the most common type of lung cancer) suffering from cachexia.

Cachexia is a complex wasting syndrome, known to have a negative impact on clinical outcomes in patients with cancer and several other chronic diseases.

It is characterised by an ongoing loss of muscle and weight, that eventually can kill the patient.

The results show that the nutrition has a favorable safety profile and indicate a number of positive effects on clinical outcome, for instance that the patients who received the nutrition experienced numerically fewer adverse events from their chemotherapy treatments than the comparator group.

The clinical study

In the pilot study, lung cancer patients who received the nutrition while being pre-cachectic had a statistically significant higher survival after 12 months from baseline compared to the comparator group. 56 patients from 16 clinical sites in Sweden, Italy, Slovakia and Croatia were randomized to receive either Smartfish’s medical nutrition product or a milk-based isocaloric drink.

“This study shows the potential of Remune as an important enhancer of standard cancer care and clinical data like this helps to build awareness of what targeted medical nutrition can do for patients. We are encouraged to continue our research and development to ensure that the best possible nutrition is delivered to the patients who need it.” Geir Harstad, CEO of Smartfish

The medical nutrition product that was tested is called Remune, and is a juice-based drink produced with a proprietary emulsion technology containing unique high levels of Omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin D and whey protein.

The study was recently published online in the journal Nutrition and Cancer and can be read following this link: “Safety and Tolerability of Targeted Medical Nutrition for Cachexia in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Pilot Trial” .

About Smartfish AS

Smartfish AS is active in the research, development, production and marketing of advanced and clinically documented nutritional drinks within medical nutrition and sports nutrition. All Smartfish products are produced on its proprietary juice-based emulsion technology platform with the marine DHA and EPA fatty acids as important ingredients. Smartfish has a number of ongoing clinical development projects and studies in close collaboration with researchers and institutions both in Norway and internationally. The company was founded in 2001 and is located in Oslo, Norway and Lund, Sweden. Smartfish’s main shareholders are Investinor (Norway) and Industrifonden (Sweden). For more information, visit SmartFish official website.

For more information about the study and the company, please contact Jens Nordahl, VP Sales & Marketing, tel +47 996 299 99.

The company’s press release can be read as a PDF in this link.

 

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Meet our new members

Oslo Cancer Cluster proudly presents the new members that have joined our organisation during the second quarter of 2019.

The new members represent a valuable addition to our non-profit member organisation, which encompasses the whole oncology value chain. By being a part of Oslo Cancer Cluster, our members are connected to a global network with many relevant key players in the cancer research field. Our members contribute to this unique ecosystem and ensure the development of innovative cancer treatments to improve patients’ lives.

 

theradex logo

 

Theradex Oncology

Theradex Oncology provides global clinical development services exclusively to companies developing new cancer treatments. The company has a strong emphasis on early drug development. It provides regulatory and medical support for companies taking cancer treatments into clinical development in the US and Europe.

Theradex Oncology staff has participated in educational events at Oslo Cancer Cluster for a number of years. This is how they became familiar with the cluster.

“Oslo Cancer Cluster provides a unique opportunity to share knowledge with other professionals dedicated to developing new cancer treatments.” Meg Valnoski, President Theradex Oncology

Meg Valnoski explains how the company has been supporting the development of cancer treatments for over 30 years and experienced the advancements in cancer treatments over that time.

 “We are always working to expand our knowledge and experience in cancer drug development to support our partnerships with companies developing new therapies for cancer treatment.”

Catapult life science logo

Catapult Life Science

Catapult Life Science is a centre established to bridge the gap between the lab and the industry, providing infrastructure, equipment and expertise for product development and industrialisation in Norway. It has been formed as a result of joint efforts from a range of different players with a common goal of enabling more industrialisation of life science research in Norway, truly what the Norwegians call a dugnad.

“We see Oslo Cancer Cluster as a key partner for realising our purpose, which is to create new opportunities for product development and industrialisation in Norway.” Astrid Hilde Myrset, CEO Catapult Life Science

Myrset adds:

“Our vision is ‘Bringing science to life’, which implies enabling new ideas to a be developed in Norway for new employment in the pharma industry, new growth in the Norwegian economy, and last but not least, new products to the market, enabling a longer and healthier life for patients.”

 

This post is part of a series of articles, which will introduce the new members of our organisation every three months.

  • To find out who else is involved in Oslo Cancer Cluster, view the full list of members
  • Follow us on Facebook or subscribe to our newsletter to always stay up to date!

 

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The High Throughput Screening Lab at SINTEF. Photo: Thor Nielsen / SINTEF

SINTEF to develop methods in immuno-oncology

The Cell Lab at SINTEF. Photo: Thor Nielsen / SINTEF

SINTEF and Catapult Life Science are looking for new partners to develop methodology for cancer immunotherapy.

“We want to develop methods within immunotherapy, because this is currently the most successful strategy for improving cancer treatments and one of the main directions in modern medicine,” says Einar Sulheim, Research Scientist at SINTEF.

The Norwegian research organization SINTEF is an Oslo Cancer Cluster member with extensive knowledge in characterisation, analysis, drug discovery and development of conventional drugs.

The new project on methodology for cancer immunotherapy recently started in April 2019 and is a collaboration with Catapult Life Science, a new Oslo Cancer Cluster member. The aim is to help academic groups and companies develop their immunotherapy drug candidates and ideas.

Help cancer patients

Ultimately, the main aim is of course that the project will benefit cancer patients. Immunotherapy has shown to both increase life expectancy and create long term survivors in patient groups with very poor prognosis.

“We hope that this project can help streamline the development and production of immunotherapeutic drugs and help cancer patients by helping drug candidates through the stages before clinical trials.” Einar Sulheim, Research Scientist at SINTEF

 

Develop methodology

The project is a SINTEF initiative spending NOK 12,5 million from 2019 to 2023. SINTEF wants to develop methodology and adapt technology in high throughput screening to help develop products for cancer immunotherapy. This will include in vitro high throughput screening of drug effect in both primary cells and cell lines, animal models, pathology, and production of therapeutic cells and antibodies.

 

High throughput screening is the use of robotic liquid handling systems (automatic pipettes) to perform experiments. This makes it possible not only to handle small volumes and sample sizes with precision, but also to run wide screens with thousands of wells where drug combinations and concentrations can be tested in a variety of cells.

 

The Cell Lab at SINTEF. Photo: Thor Nielsen / SINTEF

The Cell Lab at SINTEF. Photo: Thor Nielsen / SINTEF

 

Bridging the gap

Catapult Life Science is a centre established to bridge the gap between the lab and the industry by providing infrastructure, equipment and expertise for product development and industrialisation in Norway. Their aim is to stimulate growth in the Norwegian economy by enabling a profitable health industry.

“In this project, our role will be to assess the industrial relevance of the new technologies developed, for instance by evaluating analytical methods used for various phases of drug development.” Astrid Hilde Myrset, CEO Catapult Life Science

A new product could for example be produced for testing in clinical studies according to regulatory requirements at Catapult, once the centre achieves its manufacturing license next year.

“If a new method is intended for use in quality control of a new regulatory drug, Catapult’s role can be to validate the method according to the regulatory requirements” Myrset adds. 

SINTEF and Catapult Life Science are now looking for partners.

Looking for new partners

Einar Sulheim sums up the ideal partners for this project:

“We are interested in partners developing cancer immunotherapies that see challenges in their experimental setups in terms of magnitude, standardization or facilities. Through this project, SINTEF can contribute with internal funding to develop methods that suit their purpose.”

 

Interested in this project?