The link between Cancer Registration and Cancer Control

The Link Between Cancer Registration and Cancer Control

Population-based cancer registries (PBCR) provide the data required to save lives. An accurate measure of the cancer burden drives improvements in health care systems through national cancer control planning. Over time, this translates to better health, economic and social outcomes.  

A PBCR actively collects information on all new cancer cases; this includes data on patient demographics and cancer type in a defined population. Sources for the registry include laboratory reports, medical records and death certificates. These data are then entered into an information system for storage, management and analysis.

The data generated by a PBCR are important for many reasons, including:

• to describe the burden of cancer in a population that can be used for national estimates
• to monitor the impact of cancer control initiatives
• to enable countries to conduct descriptive epidemiology to benchmark patterns and identify etiologic hypotheses for further study