# Open-source cancer registry-in-a-box for low-resource settings

Source: https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-data-registry-in-a-box/  
OnCo record `idea-data-registry-in-a-box` (Idea). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

A registry-in-a-box would be a free, ready-to-run cancer registry system, working on phones and without constant internet, so any hospital anywhere can start counting and following its cancer patients.

## Summary

Fewer than one in five people in low- and middle-income countries are covered by a high-quality cancer registry. IARC's CanReg5 is the established open tool; the proposal modernises it as a mobile-first, offline-capable system with built-in ICD-O coding assistance, staging, treatment and follow-up modules, automated data-quality checks and export to the Global Initiative for Cancer Registry Development, funded as a global public good with regional support hubs.

## Fields

- Kind: Idea
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Hypothesis: Registry-in-a-box deployment will double the number of population-based registries meeting IARC quality criteria in sub-Saharan Africa within seven years.
- Rationale: DHIS2 became the health information backbone of more than 70 countries by being free, offline-capable and supported; cancer registration has no equivalent modern tool.
- Proposed test: Deploy in ten hospital registries across three countries; measure case completeness and follow-up rates at 24 months against CanReg5 sites.
- Maturity: early-clinical
- Actor: philanthropy

## Sources

- Global Initiative for Cancer Registry Development (IARC): https://gicr.iarc.fr/

## Connected records

- collections: [GLOBOCAN / Global Cancer Observatory](https://onco.cc/collections/globocan/)
- fronts: [AI & Computation](https://onco.cc/fronts/ai-computation/)
- institutions: [International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC / WHO)](https://onco.cc/institutions/iarc/)
- bottlenecks: [Data silos](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-data-silos/), [Most of the world has almost no cancer care](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-global-access/)
- ideas: [One outcome record for every donated or discounted cancer drug pack](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-data-access-programme-outcomes/)

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