THE DANISH CANCER REGISTRY - HISTORY, CONTENT, QUALITY AND USE

The Danish Cancer Registry is a population-based registry containing d ata on the incidence of cancer throughout Denmark since 1943. Reportin g of cancer was made mandatory by administrative order in 1987. Detail s of individual cases of cancer are available according to the 7th rev ision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), for all y ears, and according to the ICD-O since 1978. A core data set is kept o n each individual which includes date of birth, sex, date of cancer di agnosis, method of verification, date of death and cause of death. Thi s paper describes the history of the registry, its data sources and it s procedures, including quality control and access to data. Integratio n of both research activities and registration since the inception of the Registry has maintained the completeness and validity of the data for 1943-1996.