The Cancer Registry of Norway – “a ground for scientific harvesting”

The Cancer Registry of Norway (CRN) has been important in registry-based research in Norway for decades. The use of CRN in combination with other population-based registries and health surveys have been the basis for numerous research projects, which has contributed to fill important knowledge gaps. Researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and CRN have a long tradition of using these data sources to address research questions of common interests such as e.g. the effect of life style and diet on cancer risk. CRN and the Medical Birth Registry of Norway have co-existed for a long period, making it possible to study cancer incidence and birth characteristics over generations. During the last decades, several new registries such as the Norwegian Prescription Database and the Norwegian Patient Registry have been established, providing opportunities for studying for example drug use and cancer risk and the influence of comorbidities on the development of cancer. In the future, the CRN will be an even more valuable data source when also other population-based registries and health surveys have existed for longer time periods.