Making European cancer screening data available to all

The CanScreen-ECIS project aims to develop and pilot a new cancer screening data management system to be integrated into the existing European Cancer Information System (ECIS). The project is a collaboration with European experts involved in two other key projects on cancer screening data collection: the second European Screening Report (EUSR) and EU-TOPIA.

This project aims to improve the quality and completeness of data to be collected from screening programmes for breast cancer, cervical cancer, colorectal cancer, and lung cancer in Europe. These data are particularly important to ensure the quality of services and to better monitor the effectiveness of cancer screening programmes across Europe.

CanScreen-ECIS will provide understandable and easy-to-access data about cancer screening across Europe. Knowing how cancer screening programmes are performing will ultimately help programme managers to work together with various stakeholders (such as the European Cancer Leagues) to improve the quality and coverage of screening.

The new data management system will be pilot tested in several countries. The pilots will generate information to perform a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the system based on feedback from all the users and stakeholders. The data management system will be further improved based on the SWOT analysis before eventually being integrated into ECIS.

The project will create a freely accessible online learning package, covering the new system for data collection and submission as well as the overall concept of quality improvement of cancer screening programmes through systematic data collection and performance monitoring.