The BC Cancer Registry is a database of all new cancers diagnosed in BC residents.
The Registry has been in existence since 1969, and has been maintained at BC Cancer since 1980. The Registry contains personal and demographic information as well as diagnosis and death information on all cases of cancer diagnosed to BC residents.
The BC Cancer Registry collects data and generates cancer statistics on the BC population for the purpose of monitoring the burden of cancer in the province. Specifically, BC Cancer Registry provides data for cancer control. That is, the cancer registry provides ongoing information on the scope of the cancer problem, information to plan programs to reduce mortality and morbidity from cancer, monitors the effectiveness of such programs, and provides information on the size of the cancer problem in the future to aid in future planning.
The BC Cancer Registry is also an important source of information for research. In British Columbia, BC Cancer Registry data have been used for many studies of risks of cancer, including environmental risks, occupational risks, and genetic susceptibility. In recent years, studies of childhood leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, multiple myeloma, brain cancer, melanoma and other cancers have been undertaken in BC using the registry. A number of recent studies have also assessed health service use and health economics impact of cancer using the Cancer Registry and other linked health data.
The BC Cancer Registry is certified by the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR).
As part of cancer registry certification criteria, NAACCR annually reviews data from member registries for quality, accuracy, and completeness of cancer incidence data. The BC Cancer Registry incidence data has been reviewed by the NAACCR since 1996 diagnosis year as seen in our
NAACCR Certification Results on Quality, Completeness and Timeliness of Data by Diagnosis Year.
BC Cancer is authorized through the Medical Research (BC Cancer Agency) and Health Status Registry Act (Section 2) to operate the Cancer Registry for cancer research and surveillance. Confidentiality and security of personal information is protected via the BC Freedom of Information and Personal Privacy Act (FIPPA).
The BC Cancer Registry would like to thank BC hospitals, pathologists and other members of the medical profession who have submitted reports on cancer diagnoses for their ongoing active support of the registry.
We also gratefully acknowledge the support of the BC Vital Statistics Agency for continued provision of death notifications which permit important cancer mortality and survival statistics to be generated from the BC Cancer Registry.
