The Norwegian Breast Cancer Registry (NBCR): A clinical register that monitors surgical care with the intention to increase the quality of treatment given to breast cancer patients in Norway

Abstract

Increased focus on quality indicators and the use of clinical registries for breast cancer has shown higher compliance with recommended treatment in several studies. Norwegian Breast Cancer Registry (NBCR) has presented data on quality indicators since 2015. The registry is 95% complete for surgical treatment during 2015-2021. Over time, increased compliance to recommended surgical therapy has been observed. The completeness of data is, unfortunately, a problem, particularly for breast radiology outside the Norwegian mammography screening program, and for data on oncological treatment. Automation of data capture is a priority at the Cancer Registry of Norway (CRN), with the ongoing INSPIRE (INcreaSe PharmaceutIcal REporting) and SNOMED CT (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine – Clinical Terms) projects. These projects may add important data and improve the completeness and quality of the NBCR, which is useful for improving the quality of care given to Norwegian breast cancer patients.