IACR Newsflash
Results Overview of the Cancer Registries and COVID-19 Survey
In mid-May, the COVID-19 and Cancer Task Force, through IACR and GICR, reached out to cancer registries with a survey to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer registration. A total of 218 cancer registries from 90 countries participated in this survey. We therefore extend our most sincere thank you to each registry for taking the time to provide feedback on how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their respective cancer registry operations.
We are pleased to share an overview of the survey results:
Two out of three cancer registries indicated their operations, including staff performance and funding, were disrupted due to the pandemic.
For 71% of registries, staff attendance was affected by the pandemic.
We will provide the detailed results from this survey very soon – please stay tuned!
Again, thank you to all our colleagues for helping us assess the impact of COVID-19 on cancer registration. The information, comments and suggestions you shared will help all those in the Task Force, IARC, GICR and IACR in particular, gather and provide targeted support for registry activities in the near future.
Dr Divina Esteban: A Tribute
Dr Divina Esteban, a pioneer of cancer registration in the Philippines (and, indeed, in South-Eastern Asia) died on February 20th, 2020.
Divina qualified in medicine at University of Manila, and later specialized in medical oncology, taking a fellowship at Philippine General Hospital (Manila) and becoming an active clinician, rising to leadership positions in the Philippine Society of Medical Oncology. Working in Rizal Medical Centre, she helped to found in 1974 the Department of Health – Rizal Cancer Registry (DOH-RCR), the first population-based cancer registry in the Philippines, as one of the activities of the Community Cancer Control Programme of the province of Rizal, and acted as its medical Director for 30 years.
The Rizal Cancer Registry contributed data for 1978-1982 to Cancer Incidence in Five Continents Volume V, and to subsequent volumes, and with IARC, she was a co-author of the first volume of Cancer in Philippines, an early IARC Technical Report (No. 5, published in 1989). The registry also contributed to the first two volumes of “Cancer Survival in Developing Countries”.
Because of its pioneering status, Rizal registry acted as a training centre for staff from other registries in Philippines, and other countries in the region, notably from Thailand and Vietnam. Her expertise as a trainer was recognized in the volume she co-authored with IARC’s Sharon Whelan- the Manual for Cancer Registry Personnel (IARC Technical Report No. 10) in 1995.
Divina was an active member of the IACR, and participated in numerous annual meetings in the 1980’s and 90’s. She retired from the Rizal Medical Center and thus also from the Rizal registry in 2004. She was succeeded by Dr Rica Lumague, a surgeon.
Cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa
In time with the African Cancer Registry Network (AFCRN)'s 2018 Annual Review Meeting held on Oct 8-10 in Entebbe, Uganda, IARC and AFCRN published Cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa.
IARC Publication 167, 2018, includes the latest cancer data for the region. The Cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa volume brings together population-based cancer incidence data from 25 cancer registries in 20 sub-Saharan African countries that are part of the African Cancer Registry Network. The compiled data in this volume, presented and commented upon by covered population and by anatomical site, are of tremendous value to the assessment of the pattern and evolution of cancer in Africa, as a means of elucidating, confirming, and evaluating causes of the disease.
ICCR Datasets
Following a period of consultation with the membership and officers of the Board, IACR is endorsing the use of the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR) pathology datasets for cancer reporting.
The links to the datasets are published on IACR's website under: Support for Registries
The published data sets (some of which have translations in Spanish, Portugese and French, are available here: ICCR Datasets
For questions or further information, please ICCR at : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (T: +61 2 8356 5828)
2019 IACR Honorary Member Awardees
IACR, at the Combined IACR - NAACCR Scientific Conference held in Vancouver, BC, Canada from 9 - 13 June 2019 awarded honorary memberships to Dr Loraine Marrett (Ontario, Canada) and Dr Roberto Zanetti (Piedmont, Italy) for their exemplary contributions to the field of cancer registration and surveillance.
Loraine Marrett, PhD, Ontario, Canada
Roberto Zanetti graduated in medicine at the University of Torino, Italy, specialised in Preventive Medicine. He obtained his PhD in Biometrics at the Milano University, then started his career as a junior epidemiologist at the Piedmont Cancer Registry, where he spent his whole career. He was appointed Director of the Registry in 1986 and retired in October 2018.
Besides engaging in modernising the registration process, he promoted an intense use of the registration data for analytical case control-and cohort studies on aetiology of melanoma, non-melanoma skin cancer, breast cancer, mesothelioma. The Piedmont Cancer Registry in the early 90's enriched its collection of data and improved its operations in order to timely provide information for the assessment of the screening results.
Roberto served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Italian Epidemiology Association, Executive Secretary of the South European Group for Cancer Registration (GRELL), member of the Board of Directors of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and represented UICC as observer at the IARC Scientific Council from 2007 to 2011. He served as editor of the Monograph Cancer in Italy, author of the booklet “Facts and Figures of Cancer in Italy”, and the editor of the Italian edition of the TNM UICC manual. He also served as consultant for epidemiology and cancer registration for the Ministries of Health of Italy, Switzerland and France and has assisted Italian civil and criminal courts as expert in litigations and trials on matter of cancer causality.
Roberto was one of the founders of the Italian Association of Cancer Registries, the Anglesio Moroni Foundation and the recently established Fondo Elena Moroni for Oncology, charity based in Torino that supports the Enrico Anglesio Prize. In the International Association of Cancer Registries (IACR) her served as Regional Representative for Europe, as President, and in the Editorial Board of the Eleventh Volume of Cancer Incidence in Five Continents.
