Europe launches CancerWatch: improving cancer data quality and timeliness to strengthen cancer control

Today in Oslo marks the official launch of CancerWatch, a new EU Joint Action designed to transform how Europe collects, harmonizes, and uses cancer data. Coordinated by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and involving 92 partner organisations from 29 countries, CancerWatch will enhance the quality, comparability, and timeliness of data from population-based cancer registries (PBCRs) across Europe.

Accurate, complete, and up-to-date cancer data are essential for monitoring trends, identifying inequalities, and evaluating the impact of prevention, early detection, and treatment programmes, as well as quality of life and survival rates. CancerWatch will ensure that high-quality data feed into the European Cancer Information System (ECIS), a cornerstone of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and the European Cancer Inequalities Registry.

Why it matters

Currently, cancer data across Europe vary in quality, coverage, and timeliness. Some regions lack full registry coverage, while others face delays of more than two years before data can be shared. CancerWatch will:

• Support cancer registries in capturing richer, more complete and timely data using digital innovations;
• Harmonize data quality standards across countries in line with European and international guidelines;
• Develop technical solutions to address legal and GDPR-related barriers to sharing individual-level data, enabling secure use of aggregated statistics;
• Improve survival, prevalence, and other key cancer indicators in ECIS, ensuring they are up-to-date and fit for policymaking;
• Prepare cancer registries for integration into the European Health Data Space (EHDS).

The role of NCRI

The National Cancer Registry Ireland (NCRI) is a key partner in CancerWatch. As Ireland’s population-based cancer registry, NCRI will:

• Provide high-quality national cancer data to support European-level analysis;
• Implement new digital tools and methodologies developed through CancerWatch;
• Adopt harmonised standards to improve the quality, completeness, and timeliness of cancer surveillance across Europe, and to ensure Irish data are fully comparable with other European registries;
• Contribute expertise to shaping future indicators and expanding registry coverage;
• Help overcome legal and technical challenges to secure, GDPR-compliant data sharing.

By actively participating in this Joint Action, NCRI strengthens Ireland’s role in the European cancer intelligence network and ensures that Irish cancer data inform policy decisions aimed at reducing inequalities and improving outcomes across Europe.

About the project

• Duration: 36 months (Sept 2025 – Aug 2028)
• Coordinator: Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH)
• Partners: 92 organisations in 29 countries, including 58 cancer registries
• Funding: EU4Health Programme (Grant Agreement CR-g-24-40) 

For more information, visit: www.encr.eu/CancerWatch