title: The completeness of cancer registration in England: an assessment from the Oxford-FPA contraceptive study.
abstract: The completeness of cancer registration in England for the period 1968-85 has been assessed in a cohort of 17,000 women who reported malignancies directly to the investigators. Of 325 cancers reported, 281 (86.5%) had been registered by mid-1987. Under-registration varied considerably between regional cancer registries. Eight (18%) of the 44 unregistered cancers were treated in private hospitals. Under-registration also varied considerably with cancer site: only 8% of 150 breast cancers were not registered, and at sites accounting for 79% of all tumours, under-registration was less than 15%; however, 40% of melanomas (20 cases) and 50% of lung cancers (6 cases) were not registered. Of 281 registered tumours, only 219 (78%) were notified to the investigators from the NHSCR at Southport, with a median lag-time of 2.5 years since diagnosis. There has been a tendency for notification of registered cancers to the investigator to become more prompt but less complete.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine & General Practice, University of Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Villard-Mackintosh
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Coleman
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Vessey
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012042:Registries / Q000592:standards*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013997:Time Factors