Economic evaluation of cancer registration in Europe

Little has been reported on costs of cancer registration, and standard indicators have not yet been identified. This study investigated costs and outcomes of a sample of 18 European registries covering a population of 58.8 million inhabitants.

Through a questionnaire, we asked registries for real cost data including personnel, information technology (IT), and infrastructure. Staff costs were grouped by professional position and by activity performed. As outcomes, besides the production of current data, we considered publications in peer-reviewed journals (last 5 years' impact factor [IF]) and characteristics of registry websites.

In our sample, the average cost of cancer registration per inhabitant was €0.27 at purchasing power standard (PPS) (range €0.03-€0.97), while the mean cost per case registered was €50.71 PPS (range €6-€213). Personnel costs accounted for an average of 79 percent of total resources. Resources spent in routine activities (an average of 51 percent, range 28 percent-87 percent) were predominant with respect to those allocated to research, with a few exceptions. Website quality seemed to be independent of total registry budget.

The variance in costs of cancer registration across Europe can be attributed mainly to the type of registry (whether national or regional), the size of the covered population, and the national economic profile, expressed as gross domestic product.