Articles

Cancer incidence in Belgium, 2004-2017

BJMO - volume 15, issue 1, january 2021

L. van Walle MD, T. Tambuyzer PhD, G. Silversmit PhD, K. Henau MSc, L. Van Eycken MD

SUMMARY

Cancer incidence in Belgium – just as worldwide – is increasing, essentially attributable to an ageing and growing population. The aim of this study is to describe the incidence of different cancers in Belgium based on the most recent data, reaching to the year 2017. When comparing Belgium to Europe, Belgium is ranked within the top ten European countries as for overall cancer incidence rates. In particular, Belgian breast cancer incidence rates are among the highest in Europe. The cumulative risk of developing cancer before the age of 75 years in Belgium is currently 34% in males, compared to 28% in females. This discrepancy between both sexes is expected to diminish further as the overall cancer risk in males tends to decline while a gradual increase is observed in females. The most frequently occurring tumour types in Belgium remained unchanged over the last decade (i.e. lung- and colorectal cancer in both sexes, prostate cancer in males and breast cancer in females) and they represent the major part (54%) of the overall cancer incidence. However, different tendencies in cancer risk are observed for the individual tumour types, also explaining the opposite evolution of overall cancer risk in males in comparison to females.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2021;15(1):4-10)

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Exchange of data between a Comprehensive Cancer Centre and the Belgian Cancer Registry: a single university institution experience

BJMO - volume 7, issue 3, july 2013

S. D’haese , RN , Msc , E. Van Eycken MD, K. Henau MSc, G. Storme MD, PhD

Summary

The main goals of hospital-based and population-based cancer registries are respectively to contribute to patient care by providing information on cancer patients and to produce statistics on the occurrence of cancer in a defined population in order to assess and monitor the impact of cancer in the community. To achieve these goals the use of complete quality data is essential. Therefore, cooperation between a hospital-based cancer registry (HBCR) and the Belgian Cancer Registry (BCR) was set up. A pilot study was conducted to exchange clinical data (date of death) between the HBCR and the BCR. Secondly, we wanted to analyse the completeness and the quality of data delivered by the HBCR to the BCR. For the pilot study, all new patients with a diagnosis of head and neck cancer in 2005 and 2006 were included. For the analysis of the completeness and quality of the data all invasive or in situ cancers with an incidence date of respectively 2005 and 2006 were included. The HBCR could be supplemented with 23 dates of death (42%). Overall, the completeness of the registration was near 100%. Except for the TNM-data of malignant melanoma the quality of the data delivered by the HBCR to the BCR showed a maximal rate of missing data of 1.7% (basis of diagnosis) and a maximal rate of conflicting data of 2.8% (basis of diagnosis combined with specific histology). Cooperation between the HBCR and the BCR gives an added value to both registries. The HBCR could be complemented with data from the BCR. The feedback report can increase the completeness and accuracy of the data of the HBCR because it provides a focus on the quality of the data.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2013;7(3):74–79)

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