Coleman M P, Lutz J M
Thames Cancer Registry, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Rev Epidemiol Sante Publique. 1996;44 Suppl 1:S2-6.
Cancer registries are instruments for cancer surveillance in the whole population. They provide information not only on the current burden of cancer, but--by projection from current occurrence rates and recent trends--on the likely future burden. Cancer risk is increasing in many developed countries, and increasing life expectancy in the next 10-30 years will have a disproportionate effect on the number of cancer patients at advanced ages. Cancer registries are the only type of organisation capable of providing information on cancer in the population as a whole, and of estimating recent trends and future risks of cancer on a national scale. At present, however, cancer registries in France appear not to be used to their full potential for the development of public health strategy. This may be because they have inadequate resources to produce the desired information, or perhaps simply because there is ignorance of their activity and potential. In order to improve the utility of cancer registries, it would be possible to use the British model of establishing service level agreements with the funding authorities. The objectives of such agreements include measures of the quality of data collected, and the extent to which useful information is derived. Simple measures of the volume of research published, while useful, are inadequate as the sole index of activity or criterion for funding. A fresh national strategy is required in France, in order to create a network of efficient cancer registries with stable funding. The long-term benefits in cancer control would be immense.
癌症登记处是对全体人群进行癌症监测的工具。它们不仅提供有关当前癌症负担的信息，而且通过根据当前发病率和近期趋势进行预测，提供有关未来可能的癌症负担的信息。在许多发达国家，癌症风险正在增加，未来10至30年预期寿命的延长将对老年癌症患者的数量产生不成比例的影响。癌症登记处是唯一能够提供关于全体人群癌症信息，并在国家层面估计癌症近期趋势和未来风险的组织类型。然而，目前法国的癌症登记处似乎并未充分发挥其在制定公共卫生战略方面的潜力。这可能是因为它们缺乏足够的资源来提供所需的信息，或者仅仅是因为对其活动和潜力缺乏了解。为了提高癌症登记处的效用，可以采用英国与资助机构签订服务水平协议的模式。此类协议的目标包括对所收集数据质量的衡量，以及获取有用信息的程度。虽然已发表研究数量的简单衡量标准有用，但作为活动的唯一指标或资助标准是不够的。法国需要一项新的国家战略，以创建一个资金稳定的高效癌症登记处网络。在癌症控制方面的长期益处将是巨大的。
