Workshop report. National initiative to improve cancer survival information

This workshop (held June 19 20, 1997, in Ottawa, Ontario) brought together major stakeholders to establish a Canadian initiative to develop systematic collection of population-based information on cancer survival. The broad goals of the workshop were to delineate the current needs regarding such data and to recommend practical mechanisms to systematically generate this information. Three key areas for discussion were identified: collection of staging data, collection of treatment data and standardized approaches to analysis. Presentations (summarized in report), designed to establish common ground for workshop discussions, provided background information on population-based collection mechanisms, data and methodology requirements for conducting meaningful cancer survival surveillance, and practical examples of using cancer survival information.