Rapid Cancer Registration Dataset

The Rapid Cancer Registration Dataset contains proxy tumour registrations and some associated events on the cancer patient pathway (e.g. surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy) from January 2018 to the most recently available data on cancer diagnoses. This rapid dataset provides a quicker, indicative source of cancer data compared to the gold standard registration process, which relies on additional data sources, enhanced follow-up with trusts and expert processing by cancer registration officers. Due to the lower quality of the rapid registration data, the data will not match the eventual National Statistics published on the full registration data.

A webinar on the new dataset exploring its purpose, structure, and data quality overview is available here. A full explanation of the creation methodology and data quality caveats (due to the rapid automated creation process without additional data curation) behind this dataset is available for each monthly snapshot of the data:

The rapid cancer registrations data is available to request through the Office for Data Release; a rapid cancer registration data dictionary should be completed by prospective applicants after reading the associated guidance and reviewing the data quality documentation as there are a number of limitations of the dataset which may impact on whether it is suitable to the applicant’s needs.

Rapid Data Outputs:

Using the new rapid cancer registrations data, NCRAS is providing data which aims to support cancer services in responding to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes:

  • A public Rapid Cancer Registration and Treatment dashboard: This includes monthly estimates of the number of diagnoses of cancer, the volume of surgical tumour resection procedures undertaken and the proportion of patients receiving a surgical tumour resection, chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, at England level. The data is broken down by cancer group and patient or tumour factors: age, sex, deprivation, ethnicity, Route to Diagnosis, stage at diagnosis or cancer alliance.
  • The Rapid Cancer Registration and Treatment dashboard is also available via the Cancerstats2 platform (for those with nhs.net), at trust level and with more detail at cancer alliance level.

Previous releases of an England-level summary of the number of diagnoses of cancer and volume of surgical tumour resection procedures undertaken, by cancer group and month are also available for reference. For all periods, using the latest available data is generally recommended. Each release updates data for all previous months based on the latest data available at the time.