# Comparability and validity of cancer registry data in the north-west of Russia

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-barchuk-registry-validity-acta-oncol-2021/  
OnCo record `paper-barchuk-registry-validity-acta-oncol-2021` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

An audit of ten Russian regional cancer registries against international rules found four of the ten fit to compare with other countries, with morphological verification as low as 62 per cent in some regions and up to 23 per cent of Saint Petersburg cases known only from a death certificate.

## Summary

Data from ten population-based cancer registries in the Northwestern Federal District, covering about 13 million people of whom about 5 million are in Saint Petersburg, were processed against IARC, IACR and European Network of Cancer Registries recommendations, focusing on cases diagnosed between 2008 and 2017.

Data collection followed international standards and the distribution of diagnosis dates was broadly uniform. The proportion of multiple primaries ranged from 6.7 per cent in Vologda oblast to 12.4 per cent in Saint Petersburg. Between 2013 and 2017 the proportion of morphologically verified cases ranged from 61.7 to 89 per cent across the regions, and death-certificate-only cases from 1 to 14 per cent, except Saint Petersburg where they reached 23 per cent. Cases with unknown primary site were 1 to 3 per cent. Validity was lowest for pancreatic, liver, haematological and central nervous system tumours and in older age groups.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-09-25
- Journal: Acta oncologica
- Year: 2021
- DOI: 10.1080/0284186X.2021.1967443
- Authors: Barchuk A, Tursun-Zade R, Belayev A, et al.
- Findings: Four of ten north-western regional registries met international standards for comparability and validity.; Morphological verification ranged from 61.7 to 89 per cent across regions in 2013 to 2017.; Death-certificate-only cases were 1 to 14 per cent in most regions and up to 23 per cent in Saint Petersburg.; Validity was lowest for pancreatic, liver, haematological and central nervous system tumours and in the oldest age groups.
- What it means: Russian national cancer figures are assembled from regional registries of very uneven quality, so a national average conceals both real differences in disease and differences in how carefully cases are recorded. It is the reason to read the Herzen institute's annual volumes alongside an independent audit rather than on their own.
- Caveats: Covers ten regions of one federal district, not the whole country; the other seventy-odd regions have not been audited in the same way in English.; Local registration instructions differ between regions, which the authors say need updating and enforcing.

## Sources

- Acta Oncologica 2021: https://doi.org/10.1080/0284186X.2021.1967443
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34424113/
- Europe PMC: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/34424113

## Connected records

- institutions: [N. N. Petrov National Medical Research Centre of Oncology](https://onco.cc/institutions/petrov-institute/)
- journals: [Acta oncologica](https://onco.cc/journals/acta-oncologica/)

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