Social inequality and incidence of and survival from Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and leukaemia in a population-based study in Denmark, 1994–2003

We investigated the effects of socioeconomic, demographic and health-related indicators on the incidence of and survival from haematological cancers diagnosed in 1994–2003 with follow-up through 2006 in Denmark using information from nationwide registers. The analyses were based on data on 636 patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), 4516 with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and 3486 with leukaemia in a cohort of 3.22 million people born between 1925 and 1973 and aged ⩾30 years. No consistent differences in incidence were seen by socioeconomic position, but an association with comorbidity was found. Patients in the lowest socioeconomic groups and those with other serious illnesses, especially men, had a worse survival of NHL. Survival results for leukaemia tended to be similar to those for NHL, although associations were generally weaker and insignificant. Thus, there were no strong associations between socioeconomic position and the incidence of these cancers; survival after NHL might be affected.