Monitoring cancer

The centre began with the Victorian Cancer Registry and all of our programs depend on it. We aim to increase the value and use of the Victorian Cancer Registry to research. The Victorian Cancer Registry has been population-based for more than twenty years; we are reengineering to update its systems and make it more efficient.

Current projects

For further information on any of the current research projects please email cec@cancervic.org.au.

VCR cancer studies case recruitment

Victorian Family Cancer Register

VCR cancer studies case recruitment

Investigator(s): Graham Giles, Helen Farrugia

Objective(s): To make VCR data available for case recruitment to ethically approved and appropriately peer reviewed studies, which are adequately funded and contribute to the Cancer Council's strategic objectives.

VCR re-engineering

Investigator(s): Helen Farrugia, Vicky Thursfield, Joyce Sharp, Jonathon Yue

Objective(s):

To enable desk top retrieval of archived VCR cancer registrations via an indexed document management system.
To convert routine cancer notifications from paper to electronic format.
To enable secure automatic transfer of electronic notifications.
To replace the VCR data repository with a system that:
- is congruent with The Cancer Council Victoria IT strategy
- accepts electronic notifications
- incorporates automated demographic and tumour matching
- includes automatic abstracting of required data from source records
- applies IARC edit checks at time of data processing.

Canstat reports

Investigator(s): Vicky Thursfield, Graham Giles

Objective(s): To publish three or four editions in our Canstat series each year.

Record linkage

Investigator(s): Helen Farrugia, Sue Douglas

Objective(s):

To make cancer data held by the registry widely available for ethically approved record linkage requests.
To provide the results of record linkage to researchers in consistent and standardised form.
To routinely evaluate record linkage algorithms to improve the sensitivity of matching routines.
To routinely evaluate the clerical review routines associated with record linkage to improve efficiency, where possible.

Information requests

Investigator(s): Vicky Thursfield

Objective(s):

To make cancer data held by the registry widely available for use in research and planning.
To supply, on request from external clients, a variety of cancer statistics in a timely, appropriate and useful manner.
To promote the existence, activities and usefulness of the Victorian Cancer Registry.

Victorian Family Cancer Register

Investigator(s): Graham Giles, Helen Farrugia, Toula McArdle, Kate Minkoff

Objective(s):

To develop and maintain the Victorian Family Cancer Register database.
To provide a cancer pedigree verification service to Victorian family cancer centres providing cancer risk assessment.
To record surveillance protocols and provide a screening reminder service to registered individuals, as appropriate.
To contribute to cancer genetics research.
To perform audit and reporting functions.