Proposal for a Cooperative Study on Population-based Cancer Survival in Selected Registries in East Asia

Reliable population-based cancer survival data are essential for assessment of the effectivenes of cancerscreening programs, distribution of cancer therapy and prevalent cancer cases. International comparisons areuseful to allow societies, mass media and health authorities to gain a real appreciation of the cancer problem intheir own country and provide an impetus to improve registration and cancer control planning. Since directlycomparable survival data among East Asian countries are presently very limited, a comparative study onpopulation-based cancer survival involving China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Taiwan, withNepal as an observer, was proposed. At the 1st Working Group meeting in Tokyo on March 18th, 2009, it wasdecided to publish the present Commentary as a step towards realization of truly comparable cancer survivalstatistics in the region. Included are general information and quality of data of cancer registration at eachparticipating registry and five-year relative survival rates of cancer of the stomach, colo-rectum, liver, lung,breast and cervix.