The evolution of cancer registration in Egypt: From proportions to population-based incidence rates

The idea of recording information on all cancer cases in defined community dates from the first half of the twentieth
century, and there has been a steady growth in the number of such cancer registries since. Through a series of
milestones; population-based cancer registration reached its current status where 290 registries in 68 countries are
included in the version X of Cancer Incidence in 5 Continents. Egypt started to be indulged in cancer registration on
1936 and reached the stage of National Population-based Cancer Registry program in 2007. This review describes
the evolution of cancer registration from cancer surveys, hospital-based registration and finally population-based
registries and how Egypt made advantage of this worldwide evolution of cancer registration, with its pitfalls,
difficulties and solutions, to establish its national population-based cancer registry program (NCRPE). The paper
also describes most relevant cancer statistics in Egypt and, for the first time, the most recent incidence rates obtained
through Egypt NCRPE in 3 regions representing Upper, Middle and Lower Egypt with provisional estimate of
cancer incidence rates stratified by gender for entire Egypt.