Overview of existing networks--is there a rationale for an Asian Cancer Registry Network?

Cancer registration is the base for our understanding of the burden of neoplastic disease in our populations at the local level. Comparability of data is essential for interpretation and this in turn depends on standardization of methodology and diagnostic and other criteria applied. If this is to be achieved across Asia, some form of international organization is clearly necessary. The question therefore should be whether the existing arrangement is adequate, and if this is not the case how a network in Asia might be established with due consideration of aims and attainable objectives. The present commentary focuses on the contributions made by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the International Association of Cancer Registries (IACR), the European Network of Cancer Registries (ENCR), the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) and individual country-based or region-based associations already active in Asia. An argument is presented here that there is a rationale for an Asian Network of Cancer Registries, working alongside and learning from the existing international organizations to promote effective cancer registration and disease prevention in Asia.