Clinical oncology information network: Population based registries remain valuable

BMJ 1994;308:597 (26 February)

Letters

Clinical oncology information network: Population based registries remain valuable

EDITOR, - S J Karp describes initiatives by clinical oncologiststo evaluate their work in cancer treatmentcentres in Britain.¹This is an important step forward, but many patients with cancerare treated by general surgeons, physicians, or geriatriciansin district hospitals. Sometimes cancer is diagnosed for thefirst time at postmortem examination. It is important to evaluatethe treatment of all patients with cancer and not just thosereferred for specialist treatment, particularly in a systemin which access to care is limited. Clinic based informationsystems may help to evaluate treatment provided by particularinstitutions but give an incomplete picture of care providedfor people with cancer in Britain. Karp is therefore incorrectto dismiss the use of data from cancer registries in the evaluationof cancer treatment. Population based registries are importantsources of data for evaluating cancer care in Britain.

M C Gulliford

Commonwealth Caribbean Medical Research Council, PO Box 164, Port of Spain, Trinidad, West Indies