Abstract
The first results are presented of the newly established Netherlands Cancer Registry, which covers the whole Dutch population (approximately 15 million people). The registry receives data on incident cancer cases from nine autonomous regional cancer registries. Notification occurs primarily through the national registry of all pathology and haematology departments, with additional reporting by medical records' departments of all hospitals. Data on cancer patients are abstracted directly from the medical records by trained registration clerks. In the years 1989-1990, the most common cancer sites among males were cancers of the lung, prostate and colon. For females, breast cancer ranked first, followed by cancer of the colon and lung. A comparison with age-adjusted (world standard population) incidence rates reported by other western cancer registries showed a relatively high incidence of lung cancer among males (72.9 per 100,000) and breast cancer among females (76.2 per 100,000). Through its near completeness and the high quality of the registered data, the Netherlands Cancer Registry offers excellent opportunities for epidemiological and clinical research.