German Centre for Cancer Registry Data: Tasks

The population-based cancer registries in each German federal state transfer data to the German Centre for Cancer Registry Data, as required by the Federal Cancer Registry Data Act (Bundeskrebsregisterdatengesetz). These data are combined, quality-checked, analysed and evaluated, and the results published in collaboration with the public health institutions of the federal states.

Tasks

• Assessment of the completeness and plausibility of the data transferred from the state cancer registries
• Regular estimation of the registration completeness of the state cancer registries as a fundamental quality criterion
• Nationwide record linkage on the basis of control numbers to identify possible duplicate notifications from multiple state cancer registries
• Regular estimation and analysis of the number of annual incident cancer cases and cancer deaths as well as survival rates and additional indicators of cancer epidemiology, particularly prevalence and the risk of developing or dying of cancer, including the investigation of trends over time
• Provision of the dataset for the evaluation of health care policy measures targeting cancer prevention, early tumor detection, cancer treatment and care as well as provision of a public use file upon application from interested researchers
• Publication of analyses and provision of analysis tools on an interactive internet platform
• Continuous development and refinement of the methods and standards for uniform data collection, data transfer and analysis in cooperation with the state cancer registries and in consultation with external scientists
• Execution of analyses and studies in the field of cancer epidemiology
• Biannual publication of a report on the incidence and development of cancer in Germany in agreement with the state cancer registries
• Production of a comprehensive report on cancer epidemiology in Germany every five years
• Collaboration in national and international organizations specializing in cancer registration and cancer epidemiology