CANCER REGISTRIES AND EVALUATION OF BREAS T-CANCER SCREENING

Cancer registries are necessary to evaluate the efficacy of cancer scr eening programmes. They provide early indicators of screening efficacy , needed to correct certain campaign failings without waiting for the mortality data, available only 7 to 10 years after the beginning of th e screening. They allow to mesure the screening effect nos only on the screened women, but also on the entire target population. They also a llow to mesure the negative and deleterious effects of the screening. Finally, they are essential to all cost/efficacy study. The evaluation of the breast cancer screening programme in the French department of Bas-Rhin by the cancer Registry showed very quickly the interest of th e mesures concerning the quality assurance programme and to estimate o n the first screen results basis, that it will be difficult to reduce the mortality by breast cancer to 25%.