title: An assessment of GLOBOCAN methods for deriving national estimates of cancer incidence.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the validity of the GLOBOCAN methods for deriving national estimates of cancer incidence.
  
  
  METHODS
  We obtained incidence and mortality data from Norway by region, year of diagnosis, cancer site, sex and 5-year age group for the period 1983-2012 from the NORDCAN database. Estimates for the year 2010 were derived using nine different methods from GLOBOCAN. These included the projection of national historical rates, the use of regional proxies and the combination of national mortality data with mortality to incidence ratios or relative survival proportions. We then compared the national estimates with recorded cancer incidence data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Differences between the estimates derived using different methods varied by cancer site and sex. Methods based on projections performed better where major changes in recent trends were absent. Methods based on mortality data performed less well for cancers associated with small numbers of deaths and for cancers detectable by screening. In countries with longstanding cancer registries of high quality, regional-based, or trends-based incidence estimates perform reasonably well in comparison with recorded incidence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the performance of the GLOBOCAN methods varies by cancer site and sex in this study, the results emphasize a need for more high-quality population-based cancer registries - either regional or, where practical and feasible, national registries - to describe cancer patterns and trends for planning cancer control priorities.
authors.affiliation: Section of Cancer Surveillance, International Agency for Research on Cancer, 150 Cours Albert Thomas, 69372 Lyon, Cedex 08, France .
authors.forename: Sebastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Antoni
authors.affiliation: Section of Cancer Surveillance, International Agency for Research on Cancer, 150 Cours Albert Thomas, 69372 Lyon, Cedex 08, France .
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Soerjomataram
authors.affiliation: Cancer Registry of Norway, Oslo, Norway .
authors.forename: Bjørn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Møller
authors.affiliation: Section of Cancer Surveillance, International Agency for Research on Cancer, 150 Cours Albert Thomas, 69372 Lyon, Cedex 08, France .
authors.forename: Freddie
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bray
authors.affiliation: Section of Cancer Surveillance, International Agency for Research on Cancer, 150 Cours Albert Thomas, 69372 Lyon, Cedex 08, France .
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ferlay
mesh_terms: D016208:Databases, Factual / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000145:classification* / Q000401:mortality*; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data