fostering population-based cancer registries in developing countries

background: due to the marked increase in the burden of cancer both in the developed and developing countries, world health organization recommends planning and implementation of comprehensive cancer control program in all countries. we evaluated evolutionary progress of the population based cancer registries (pbcr), an essential component of the cancer control program. methods: we studied frequency and coverage of cancer registries worldwide in overall and stratified by regions and countries, using the data published in the cancer in five continents (ci5) volume i-ix. using the population proportion of the study unit as the weight, we estimated weighted average of the registration coverage in the studied countries and regions. results: we found that coverage of cancer registry is increasing worldwide. in overall, 224 pbcrs estimate cancer incidence in 19.6% of world population. while the coverage was almost complete in the western countries, some counties particularly in africa and asia lack even a single cancer registry. the lowest coverage was generally observed in africa (1.4%) and southeastern asia (2%). using information technology, lead to a considerable increase in the coverage of cancer registries in the us, where it increased from 14% percent in 1997 to 96% in 2002. conclusion: developing countries must prioritize establishment of cancer registration system. looking at the developed countries with well-functioning registries may help establish an efficient registration system in developing countries. using advance information technology will help achieve an efficient and optimal pbcr.