# Implementation of a population-based cancer registry network in Mexico 2017-2020

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-mohar-mexico-cancer-registry-network-spm-2024/  
OnCo record `paper-mohar-mexico-cancer-registry-network-spm-2024` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The account, by the people who ran it, of Mexico's first national network of population-based cancer registries: nine registries covering about 11% of the population counted 13,517 new cancers from 2017 to 2020 before the network was suspended for lack of funds.

## Summary

The Instituto Nacional de Cancerología coordinated a network of population-based cancer registries created after a 2016 to 2017 reform of the Ley General de Salud established a national cancer registry. Registries in Acapulco, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, León, Monterrey, Tijuana and Toluca, with a combined 2020 census population of 14,408,621, collected new cases from 1 January 2017 using international (IARC) standards, with 34 registrars hired and trained by the institute and support from the IARC Global Initiative for Cancer Registry Development. Data came from 481 public and private sources; IMSS institutions, which cover around 55% of the population, were not included. Published online on 8 December 2023 in volume 66 (2024).

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Journal: Salud Pública de México
- Year: 2024
- DOI: 10.21149/15258
- Authors: Mohar A, Paredes A, Brau-Figueroa H, et al.
- Findings: 13,517 new cancers were recorded between 2017 and 2020, 64% in women; more than 85% were histologically confirmed and 6.2% were known from the death certificate only.; Breast cancer was the commonest (23.3%), followed by digestive organs (18.4%) and female genital organs (13.5%); among women cervical cancer was 13.2% of cases and among men prostate cancer was 21.7%.; Children aged 0 to 14 accounted for 416 cases (3.1%), almost half of them leukaemias, and adolescents aged 15 to 19 for 182.; The network was suspended in 2020 because of budgetary restrictions, and cases registered fell sharply that year.
- What it means: Mexico still has no national incidence count of its own: IARC estimates its new cancers from deaths and from registries in neighbouring countries. This paper is the record of the one attempt to build a national network and of why it stopped, and its authors point to the ministry's renewed effort from 2023.
- Caveats: The authors call the results partial: the network ran for under four years, 2020 was cut short, and IMSS hospitals were not included, so the counts are not complete incidence for the cities covered.; No rates or survival were published, only case counts and proportions.

## Sources

- Salud Publica Mex 2024: https://doi.org/10.21149/15258
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38065103/

## Connected records

- cancers: [Breast cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-cancer/), [Cervical cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/cervical/)
- institutions: [Instituto Nacional de Cancerología (Mexico)](https://onco.cc/institutions/incan-mexico/), [International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC / WHO)](https://onco.cc/institutions/iarc/), [Registro Nacional de Cáncer (Mexico)](https://onco.cc/institutions/registro-nacional-cancer-mexico/)
- people: [Óscar Gerardo Arrieta Rodríguez](https://onco.cc/people/oscar-arrieta-rodriguez/)

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