Cancer registration is a continuous process of systematic collection, storage, analysis, interpretation and reporting of data on the occurrence and characteristics of cancer.

Population-based cancer registries collect information on all new cancer cases that occur in a well-defined population, corresponding to a specific geographic area. The collection is done in a systematic way from several sources, including hospitals, death certificates and laboratory services.

The data of population-based cancer registries are the basis for the estimation of the cancer burden and its trends over time and are crucial in the planification and evaluation of cancer control programmes in the area of registration.

Cancer registration in Europe consists of almost 200 population-based cancer registries in most European countries, collecting data on all new cancer cases. These registries provide information on individual records with varying degrees of geographical coverage, ranging from national to regional and local areas. Almost all the European population-based cancer registries are members of the European Network of Cancer Registries (ENCR).

Grateful acknowledgement is given to the European cancer registries for contributing to the initiatives and studies included in ECIS.