Tumor Registry

With cancer being one of the most common causes of death around the world, many cities established tumor registries (often called cancer registries) which [Page 1687]collected, collated, and then studied cancer statistics to show the relative rates of prevalence of people suffering from cancer in a particular place. Although these were often run by individual towns—some very early ones were run by particular large hospitals—it was not long before more and more national cancer registries were established, covering all deaths in a particular country.

At its most basic level, the tumor registry collects the details of the number of people in a particular area who died from cancer. This was later expanded to cover information on the sex of the person, age, residence, and a measure of various high-risk factors such as whether the person smoked tobacco or had given up smoking earlier on. It has also been possible to collect information on whether other family members had died from cancer.

Some tumor registries used information from death certificates, cemetery records, medical registers, and also hospital records to “backdate” their records and include information on people who have already died. This was particularly useful when tumor registries were being established because it allowed cancer researchers to make some attempt at a comparative survey of who has been suffering from cancer in a particular area and over what time span. Tumor registries now often include the collection of information on cancer in living people, not solely death records, and this has not only massively increased the data collected, but it has also considerably augmented the potential use of these statistics.

As a result of the vast amount of data collected by cancer registries all over the world, and for some of them, over a long period, it has been possible for cancer researchers to spot the greater prevalence of particular types of cancers in some parts of the world, and indeed, in some parts of specific countries. This can then be compared to some similar types of cancers in other parts of the world and over different periods. It has helped researchers follow hypotheses to follow causes of cancer, and as a result, it has helped medical professionals work out techniques of diagnosis and improve therapy.

Furthermore, tumor registries have also been used to monitor and measure the effects of preventive measures when they were introduced. It has also been possible to show the different levels of cancer which could continue from a comparison of specific treatment by different hospitals. It has even managed to work out which physicians have managed to treat more patients successfully.

In the United States, the National Program of Cancer Registries brings together the state-based systems and covers 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Republic of Palau—about 96 percent of the U.S. population. In Canada, the Canadian Cancer Registry operates from Ottawa. The other tumor registry dating to before World War II is the Central Cancer Registry in Melbourne, Australia, established by Robert Fowler in 1939.

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