4    The Connection | Winter | 2016-2017

International Association of Cancer Registries Annual Meeting

It was an honor and privilege to attend the 38th Annual International Association of Cancer 
Registries (IACR) Scientific Conference in Marrakech, Morocco, this past October. The theme of the 
program was “Progress in Cancer Registration Worldwide: Reducing Inequities and Demonstrating 
Benefit.” The Cancer Registry of Casablanca hosted the event with support from the Lalla Salma 
Foundation for the Prevention and Treatment of Cancers. Every continent was represented, with 
Africa, Asia, and Europe accounting for the highest attendance among the 226 delegates. 
The IACR was founded in 1966 as a professional society dedicated to fostering the aims and 
activities of cancer registries worldwide. It is primarily for population-based registries, which 
collect information on the occurrence and outcome of cancer-defined populations. The IACR annual 
scientific conference has been held regularly since 1970, and annually since 1982.  

The scientific portion of the event included 58 oral presentations and 104 poster presentations. The primary plenary themes 
included:

• 

 Cancer surveillance for cancer control:

 The role of cancer registries in supporting the planning,  

implementation, and monitoring of cancer-control interventions.

• 

Cancer in Africa:

 Examples of progress in cancer registration and cancer control in Africa.

•  

Strengthening health data:

 Examining improvements in data to assess the cancer burden in populations,  

making the case for cancer registries; and the role of vital registries, electronic medical health records,  
and broader disease surveillance.

• 

 Infectious-related cancers:

 A review of the evidence relating to infectious etiology of cancers,  

the impact of health transitions on the profile of cancer, and the role of prevention.

•  

Childhood cancers:

 Linking data to provide evidence and inform action in low- and middle-income countries. 

A vast number of interesting facts were presented over the course of three days. There are too many to list here, but they all 
demonstrate that the burden of cancer is not just a local or regional matter; the disease affects every population worldwide. 
Each nation experiences different degrees of challenge to data collection, cancer registration, and accurate assessment 
of their cancer burdens, but this does not undermine the usefulness of the data being collected. It reinforces the fact that 
population-based registries share a pivotal role in the progress and improvement of cancer surveillance. Even though gaps in 
data collection still exist in geographically or financially challenged areas, there are a number of positive events occurring. 
Screening and prevention programs are being implemented, access to services is improving, data is becoming more available, 
and newer treatments are being offered to patients.  

A Few Facts from the Scientific Program

•  Low- and middle-income countries bear more than half of the global burden of cancer and have the lowest 

proportion of the population covered by cancer registries.

•  In Nigeria from 2012-2014, in males, 328 out of 365 infection-associated cancers (90%) were attributed to 

infections and, in females, 623 out of 665 (94%).

•  Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth-most common cancer and second-most common cause of cancer 

mortality in South Korea, and about half of HCC patients are diagnosed at advanced stages.

•  The pathology department at Ibn Rochd University Hospital of Casablanca, Morocco, the only public pathology 

facility, serves a population of 4.2 million and processes about 12,000 histopathology cases a year.

NCRA participated in the poster presentations with a poster entitled, “Using a Workforce Planning Model to Build a 
Comprehensive National Cancer Registrar Education System.” The entire poster can be viewed on NCRA’s website at
www.ncra-usa.org/iacrposter2016. I’d like to thank Kimberly Watson, Peggy Meehan, Mary Maul, Robin Havens, and Michael 
Hechter for creating the poster, which outlined the workforce-planning model and steps to deliver education to cancer 
registrars. 
In summary, while there are key differences in the evolution of cancer registration around the globe, many commonalities do 
exist. One factor holds true: Data will continue to help us uncover and discover what we need to know about the risk factors, 
etiology, and burden of cancer.  
The 2017 IACR conference will be held October 17-19 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. 

For more information, please visit  

www.iacr.com.fr/.

LEAH KIESOW, MBA, CTR | IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT