CancerWatch marks first year with Europe-wide registry survey and new tools for cancer data

(PRESS RELEASE) STRASSEN, Luxembourg, 2-Oct-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — One year after its launch, the EU4Health Joint Action CancerWatch has completed the largest survey of European cancer registries to date, supported the 2026 Europe-wide data collection for the update of the European Cancer Information System (ECIS), and developed the methods and software needed to turn registry data into comparable European cancer-survival statistics. Updated European figures on cancer survival and prevalence are due to be published in ECIS before the end of 2026.

Cancer registries remain the gold standard for understanding how cancer affects populations. Their rigorous methods for collecting and standardising data produce high-quality information, but the process can require substantial time and resources. CancerWatch is working to improve Europe’s cancer intelligence by strengthening data quality and timeliness while keeping costs manageable, an effort that depends on a detailed understanding of how cancer registration operates across Europe.

The forthcoming ECIS figures are intended to provide a more current view of the cancer burden in Europe, including updated estimates of survival and prevalence. Survival describes the probability of being alive a number of years after a cancer diagnosis, while prevalence indicates how many people are living with cancer, or have lived through it, at a given point in time. Together, the measures are used to assess whether cancer prevention and care are improving and which populations are benefiting.

What the first year delivered

• A survey of 192 cancer registries, the largest ever conducted. It gives Europe a strong baseline of how cancer registration is organised, how quickly data are delivered, how registries are funded, and how much capacity they have to innovate.
• Enhanced participation to the 2026 Europe-wide data collection for ECIS, targeted to members of the European Network of Cancer Registries (ENCR).
• A harmonised framework of quality indicators, aligned with European Health Data Space requirements supporting a more consistent approach to measuring and comparing cancer data quality across countries and showcasing the high-quality data of European registries.
• Protocols for estimating cancer survival and prevalence across European countries.
• A first version of a dedicated software tool for calculating survival and prevalence as epidemiological indicators, now in pilot testing with registries.
• Support all registries in getting EHDS-ready – clarifying which roles are needed and how to best position cancer-registry data in the national and European catalogues, metadata catalogue, plus work on metadata standards and interoperability with the Horizon Europe project QUANTUM on data quality labelling.

“CancerWatch is helping to improve the timeliness and quality of European cancer indicators by making efficient use of the most recent data from cancer registries. For survival and prevalence, its added value lies in the innovative methods and tools developed within the project, which make it possible to derive these indicators from the same cancer-registry data in a timely, harmonised and comparable way. This will allow us to see which countries are making progress, which are falling behind, and whether policies are delivering results. By bringing together the data, methods and expertise needed for this large-scale European effort, CancerWatch has made a major contribution”

Manola Bettio, Joint Research Centre, European Commission.

We cannot improve what we cannot measure

ECIS is Europe’s main source of comparable cancer statistics and is supplied by population-based cancer registries that collect data from thousands of hospitals across the continent. When registry data are slow, incomplete or inconsistent, the European picture is affected in the same way. In some regions, cancer data still take more than two years to arrive.

The same principle applies to the registries themselves: improving performance first requires a way to measure it. CancerWatch says its survey has provided that baseline while highlighting differences between countries.

“More than 90% of the cancer registries we approached completed the survey, showing the strong commitment of the European cancer registry community. For the first time at this scale, we now have a comprehensive picture of how population-based cancer registries operate across Europe – what is already working well, where challenges remain and where further support is needed. CancerWatch can build on this evidence to strengthen registries while preserving what matters most: the quality and comparability of population-based cancer data.”

Dr. Vesna Zadnik, Head of Slovenian Cancer Registry – Institute of Oncology Ljubljana, and WP-lead CancerWatch, coordinator of the CancerWatch European PBCR survey

The instrument that measures Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan

Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP) is described by CancerWatch as the most ambitious cancer initiative the European Union has undertaken to reduce the cancer burden across the EU. Assessing whether its goals are being achieved depends on reliable and comparable data. Population-based cancer registries provide evidence for tracking cancer outcomes, identifying inequalities and assessing whether prevention, screening and treatment policies are making a difference over time.

Looking ahead

Over the next two years, CancerWatch will build on these foundations. Work is continuing on AI-assisted cancer registration, common standards and digital tools intended to make data collection more complete, consistent and efficient, as well as on preparing registries for the European Health Data Space. The project’s stated aim is to enable Europe to see the state of cancer on the continent in something closer to real time rather than several years after the fact.

The objective is not improved data for its own sake, but stronger cancer control: fewer people developing cancer, more people surviving it, and smaller differences in outcomes depending on where in Europe someone lives. CancerWatch says that objective cannot be achieved without knowing where Europe stands.

“Europe cannot manage what it does not measure. Without robust data systems to track progress and expose inequalities, the Cancer Plan will not deliver the results Europe needs.”

Romana Jerković, Member of the European Parliament

Background

Population-based cancer registries have supported cancer surveillance in Europe for decades, enabling countries to track incidence, mortality, survival and prevalence. Differences in legal frameworks, interoperability, resources and data-collection practices, however, mean that completeness and timeliness vary widely between countries.

CancerWatch builds on the work of the European Network of Cancer Registries (ENCR), the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and international partners such as the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), aligning these efforts to deliver faster, more reliable and comparable cancer information. The work supports Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, the European Cancer Inequalities Registry and the European Knowledge Centre on Cancer.

About CancerWatch

• A Joint Action co-funded by the European Union through the EU4Health Programme, with an EU contribution of €13 million.
• Duration: 36 months (September 2025 to August 2028).
• Coordinator: Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH).
• Partners: 92 organisations in 29 countries, including 58 cancer registries.
• Funding: EU4Health Programme, Grant Agreement CR-g-24-40.
• More information: http://www.cancerwatch.eu

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA). Neither the European Union nor HaDEA can be held responsible for them. – CancerWatch JA has received co-funding from the EU4Health programme under Grant Agreement No 101219450.

Scientific Contact

Claudine Backes
Team Leader, Cancer Epidemiology & Prevention Group (EPICAN)
Luxembourg Institute of Health