Information work at the Cancer Registry og Norway
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The Cancer Registry of Norway disseminates knowledge about the cancer picture in Norway through statistics, scientific articles, lectures and through the press.
Information work in the Cancer Registry of Norway
The cancer register collects information on all cancer cases in Norway. The data that comes in to the Cancer Registry is processed, compiled and analyzed by researchers, statisticians, coders and other professionals at the institute, and is used for both statistics, research and to measure the healthcare offered to cancer patients. The cancer register disseminates its knowledge of the cancer picture in Norway through, among other things, statistical overviews online and in Cancer in Norway, annual reports, scientific articles, lectures, news on the websites and press releases.
The cancer register conveys knowledge about the cancer picture in Norway through statistical overviews, scientific articles and lectures. Extracts from the cancer database are also very often required. The data delivery unit ensures this.
In addition, we respond to inquiries about cancer and speak to the media. A separate information unit deals with inquiries and passes them on to the right person if necessary.
Cancer registration
The cancer registry's overall goal is to establish knowledge and spread knowledge that contributes to reducing cancer. All the country's doctors are required by law to report new cancer cases to us. Primary care physicians and doctors at hospitals can obtain personal information about their patients. The registered person has the right to information and access, compare § 5-1 of the Cancer Registry Regulations.
The cancer registry's expertise in diagnostics and treatment is constantly increasing. With this as a background, the Cancer Register, in collaboration with the clinical environment in Norway, has over the past 20 years purposefully developed national quality registers for the treatment of cancer.
Inquiries to the Cancer Registry
The Cancer Registry of Norway receives a large number of inquiries from various environments. In the case of inquiries about the occurrence of cancer, information is obtained from reports and publications or by extracting from our own database, which is very often necessary. The data delivery unit assists with the latter.
Inquiries to the Cancer Registry of Norway are answered as quickly as possible, and everyone receives feedback within 14 days. The data release unit must release clean cancer register data within 30 days. Information in the Cancer Registry that must be compiled (linked) with information in other health registers, must be provided within 60 days (see the Cancer Register Regulations, chapter 3). However, the average delivery time is around two weeks.
Cancer risk in families
If someone is wondering if they belong to a high-risk family, they should contact their GP. Genetic departments at some hospitals may also obtain information from the Cancer Registry of Norway about cancer diagnoses in close relatives. It is a prerequisite that relatives who are alive send us written consent to the disclosure of their own diagnosis. For inquiries in connection with genetic testing, there are special guidelines.
Find your own statistics in our dynamic statistics - and feel free to get in touch for help with quality assurance and interpretation of the results. See the Cancer Registry's statistics bank.
Research
The Norwegian Cancer Registry has its own research department where much of the research activity is concentrated, and research is carried out in all parts of the organisation. The register department, the screening programs and the register informatics department all have extensive research activity.
The research is largely based on population-based cancer data linked to biobank health surveys, other cohorts/studies and registers. The research projects range from classical epidemiology to molecular and clinical epidemiology.
Information from the Cancer Registry's database is largely used for research. If you wish to carry out examinations based on data from the Cancer Registry's database, the projects must be assessed by our research leaders and by the ethics committee. Funding must be obtained, and a dispensation from the duty of confidentiality from the Norwegian Health Authority as well as a license from the Norwegian Data Protection Authority must be available.
Screening
The Cancer Registry of Norway also has administrative responsibility for the public cancer screening programs in Norway. As of today, the following programs are available:
Cancer in smaller geographical areas
If cancer accumulation is suspected , one should first contact the municipal medical doctor, the occupational health service or the health manager at the relevant location. We can assist with cancer data distributed by municipalities. If the Cancer Registry of Norway is to investigate the incidence of cancer in smaller areas, special measures are required, both financially and practically.
Other cancer-related topics
Causes of death at the personal level are not reported by the Cancer Registry. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health administers the Cause of Death Registry in Norway.
If you have questions about the symptoms and treatment of cancer, you should contact your doctor. In addition, the Norwegian Cancer Society has a telephone line, Kreftlinjen, where you can talk to specially trained nurses in cancer care (800 48 210). They also offer online chats with Kreftlinjens specialist nurses.
For information on carcinogens, you can contact Direktoratet for arbeidstilsynet or find links on the websites of Statens arbeidsmiljø institutt and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
Both Statens arbeidsmiljø institutt and Statens strålevern have information about electromagnetic fields and radiation.