Use of information from clinical trials for an integrated cancer registry

The registry of childhood malignancies in the F.R.G. is a combination of a population-based and hospital-based cancer registry. A large amount of the collected data originates from multicenter clinical trials which are integrated into the documentation system of the cancer registry. The paper describes the information flow and the system of data storage which consists of a central database on a departmental system at the registry and of several coordinated peripheral databases on microcomputers at the trial centers. Practical experience shows an increased availability and validity of the data in the registry since the implementation of the system. Aspects of data integrity and security are discussed. Although the system was designed according to specific demands of the registry, it may serve as a model for similar tasks of cooperative documentation and information exchange.