A registry is defined by the French Registry Evaluation Committee (CER), as a structure carrying out continuous and exhaustive collection of personal data related to one or several health events, within a geographically-defined population, for research purposes and public health surveillance, conducted by skilled team.

Our objectives are:

Health monitoring and surveillance

• To estimate the reference incidence rates of childhood cancers in France and their distribution by histological type.
• To estimate population-based survival probabilities.
• To monitor spatial and temporal variations of incidence and survival.

Aetiological research

The registry has a central role in research on childhood cancer risk factors through its exhaustive database and precise diagnosis information, which is coded to international standards.

• Ecological studies focus on the influence of local determinants on cancer incidence, such as exposure to natural ionizing radiation, proximity to some sites like nuclear sites or other demographic factors.

• Population-based case-control studies analyse multiple factors, such as the role of individual and familial medical history, environmental exposures (tobacco and alcohol in utero, passive tobacco during childhood, parents’ professional exposures, household environment, etc.).

These studies are conducted within INSERM-1153 unit, Team 7 (EPICEA).

Contribution to health services evaluation

• Collecting data on patient management enables us to assess the patient’s pathway of care.

• The COHOPER cohort study, one of the components of the French Childhood Cancer Observation Platform (CCOP), allows monitoring of general health condition and quality of life in people who were diagnosed with cancer in childhood.