To describe our experience upon developing and implementing a hospital-based cancer registry (HBCR) in a quaternary-level of care private non-pro t academic medical center in Cali, Colombia.
MethodsHBCRs capture, in a given institution, every single patient with a con rmed malignancy. In this study, all cases evaluated between 2014 and 2018 were included in the HBCR. In compliance with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) recommendations, cases were classi ed as analytic or nonanalytic. Data derived from an exhaustive selection of patients was stored in a computing platform owned by the institution, meeting the 2016 Facility Oncology Registry Data Standards (FORDS) recommendations. Quality control was performed by evaluating comparability, timeliness, validity, and completeness.
ResultsA total of 24,405 new cases were registered between 2014 and 2018, from which 4,253 (17.4%) died. Among all cases, based on the anatomic location, most common malignancies were breast (n = 1,554), thyroid (n = 1,346), hematolymphoid (n = 1,251), prostatic (n = 805), and colorectal (n = 624). The behavior of the incidence was consistent with an incremental trend.
ConclusionUpon implementing the HBCR, major challenges were identi ed (i.e. a precise de nition of cases, the development of processes for capturing new cases, a standardized data collection strategy, and carryingout an appropriate patient follow-up). Based on our experience, the success of an HBCR largely relies on the interest from the institution, the engagement of stakeholders and nancial support, that is, it depends on the adequate access over time to funding, technological, and sta ng resources.There are mainly two types of cancer registries. One that measures the impact of the disease in speci c demographics, known as Population-Based Cancer Registry (PBCR) [3]. On the other hand, Hospital-Based Cancer Registries (HBCRs), mainly evaluate the burden of the disease and the quality of healthcare services, as well as the organizational and administrative support from the institution [4,5]. Although PBCRs are a valuable source of information, in Colombia, these do not often include clinical data, thus limiting the assessment of important variables, such as accuracy of diagnosis, quality of treatment, demand for health services, among others [6].Although the bene ts of implementing an HBCR have been evidenced [7, 8], its success over time requires the interest from the institution, the engagement of stakeholders and nancial support. For instance, in Colombia, the National Cancer Institute (INC by its Spanish acronym: Instituto Nacional de Cancerología) is the only institution with an HBCR that has published data [9,10]. The purpose of this study is to describe our experience upon developing and implementing the Institutional Cancer Registry (RIC by its Spanish acronym: Registro Institucional de Cáncer) in Fundación Valle del Lili (FVL). Our methodology may serve as a role model for other health centers in the country, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The ...