No decline in childhood cancer survival in Sweden during the pandemic
Despite a strained healthcare situation and concerns about delayed diagnoses, childhood cancer survival in Sweden remained stable during the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of diagnoses varied somewhat between cancer types, but researchers found no evidence of poorer survival during the first year after diagnosis.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were global concerns that children with cancer might experience delayed diagnoses and disruptions to treatment, which in turn could worsen prognosis. However, a new register-based study from Karolinska Institutet indicates that childhood cancer care in Sweden was largely maintained throughout the pandemic.
The researchers analysed all cancer diagnoses among children and adolescents in Sweden between 2015 and 2022—a total of 3,333 cases—and compared the pandemic period (2020–2022) with the years before the pandemic.
The results show that the overall incidence of childhood cancer remained at approximately the same level during the pandemic as before. Survival up to one year after diagnosis was also stable – and in some analyses even slightly higher.
“We found no evidence that children diagnosed during the pandemic had poorer survival in the first year after diagnosis. This suggests that childhood cancer care in Sweden was able to maintain treatment and follow-up despite the pressure on the healthcare system,” says Christina-Evmorfia Kampitsi, researcher at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet and first author of the study.
Variations between cancer types – but no clear negative consequences
Although the overall incidence of childhood cancer was stable, the incidence of some cancer types varied somewhat over time. The researchers emphasise that such variations do not necessarily reflect pandemic-related effects but may represent random fluctuation or other factors.
“There were concerns that fewer children would have their cancer detected in time. We can’t measure diagnostic delay directly in our data, but the timing of some changes—and the acute presentation of certain cancers such as childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia—argue against widespread delays. Importantly, these changes were not accompanied by worse survival during the first year after diagnosis,” says Christina-Evmorfia Kampitsi.
Sweden’s pandemic response differed from many other countries, and these results add evidence from a setting with comparatively few restrictions. While these findings are reassuring, continued monitoring is needed to determine whether incidence patterns or longer-term outcomes change in the post-pandemic era.
Publication
Childhood cancer in Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic: Temporal patterns in incidence and survival in a nationwide register-based cohort study
Christina-Evmorfia Kampitsi*, Javier Louro*, Hanna Mogensen, Friederike Erdmann, Kleopatra Georgantzi, Mats Heyman, Päivi Lähteenmäki, Anna Nilsson, Maria Feychting, Giorgio Tettamanti
*These authors contributed equally to this work and share first authorship
PLOS Medicine, March 5, 2026
Contact: Christina-Evmorfia Kampitsi