A Ten-Year Milestone: The National Cancer Registry’s Decade of support in the fight against cancer

The RNC celebrates its 10^th anniversary

• Cancer
• Department of Cancer Research

On Thursday, October 5^th, the National Cancer Registry of Luxembourg (Registre National du Cancer – RNC) at the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) hosted a celebratory event on the occasion of the 10^th anniversary of its implementation. The scientific conference, which was hosted by Dr Sophie Couffignal, operational director of the RNC, and Dr Claudine Backes, scientific director of the RNC, successfully welcomed scientists, clinicians and policymakers from all major institutions in the national healthcare and research scene, as well as patients and other stakeholders involved in the fight against cancer. It featured several prominent speakers, providing an opportunity to discuss the latest developments in the field of cancer care in Luxembourg, with a particular focus on breast and childhood cancers.

The event kicked off with an opening statement from Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg who, as the honorary president of the Fondation Cancer, is deeply committed to the fight against cancer, having supported numerous Luxembourgish charities and research institutes in this field over the years. This was followed by welcome statements from the RNC’s supervising authorities and funders. Luxembourg’s Minister of Health, Mrs Paulette Lenert, underlined the importance of the RNC as a population-based cancer registry in public health policies designed to fight cancer; the Director Adjoint of the Health Directorate, Dr Juliana D’Alimonte, congratulated the strong network the RNC is representing and stressed the need for legal frameworks; while the President of the National Health Insurance Fund (Caisse National de Santé, CNS), Mr Christian Oberlé, praised the outstanding work of the RNC in producing high quality cancer data at the national level, and advertised further digital transformation, resources and interoperability to best support the RNC team. The conference also benefited from the keynote intervention of Dr Nadya Dimitrova from the Early Detection, Prevention, and Infections branch of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)/World Health Organization (WHO), who focused on the importance of cancer registries in reducing cancer burden globally.

The core of the event revolved around the oral and poster presentation of results and uses of RNC data since its establishment, during sessions moderated by Dr Claudine Backes. During these sessions, Dr Sophie Couffignal, addressed the quality of breast cancer care in comparison with European recommendations, as well as the incidence of childhood cancers in the Grand-Duchy between 2014 and 2022. Isabelle Robert, Data Manager at the Programme Mammographie at the Health Directorate, and Dr Quentin Rollet, Visiting Researcher at the RNC/LIH, presented performance indicators relative to the evaluation of the breast cancer screening programme in the country. Dr Allini Mafra, Postdoctoral Fellow in the LIH Cancer Epidemiology group, presented the preliminary results of RELIANCE, the first research project based on RNC data focused on the return to work of breast cancer survivors.

The event was followed by a walking dinner and celebratory cake cutting.   

The conference was a wonderful opportunity to look back at the past decade of RNC activity and present the tremendous work we have been carrying out to all the key national stakeholders concerned. We are incredibly proud of the strong network and results we have achieved so far, supporting the implementation of effective cancer prevention, screening and treatment measures in the Grand Duchy, and we look forward to pursuing our efforts in this respect,

states Dr Backes. 

“We also took the opportunity to renew our gratitude to the Ministry of Health for entrusting us with the crucial mission of monitoring the epidemiology of cancer cases in Luxembourg, and for supporting us in this endeavour. We are determined to keep playing a key role in the improvement of cancer care in Luxembourg and make a tangible impact on the lives of all our patients”,

adds Dr Couffignal.

“The role and missions of the National Cancer Registry are essential for efficient policy making. Thanks to the RNC we are able to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of public health initiatives in terms of prevention and screening programs; evaluate the effectiveness of the various treatments offered to patients and compare the results obtained in Luxembourg with those of other countries,” concludes Paulette Lenert from the Ministry of Health.

Further information on the presentations and posters may be found on www.rnc.lu

Credit: Marion Dessard

About the National Cancer Registry of Luxembourg

The Luxembourg National Cancer Registry (Registre National du Cancer – RNC) is the official structure which collects all new cancer cases diagnosed and/or treated occurring in the population residing in Luxembourg. Data on the new cases of cancer diagnosed and/or treated in Luxembourg in non-residents are also collected, in order to have a view of all the patients treated for cancer on the Luxembourgish territory.

The RNC is a population-based registry (PBCR), serving as an essential system for cancer surveillance but also for the observation and evaluation of treatment. The objectives of the RNC include the epidemiological surveillance of cancers; the evaluation of public health actions in terms of cancer prevention and screening; the evaluation of the quality of care provided to cancer patients; the monitoring of the National Cancer Plan and the planning of the necessary resources; and the provision of support to epidemiological and clinical research. The RNC was established by the Health Directorate of the Luxembourg Ministry of Health in 2013. The Luxembourg Institute of Health was mandated to oversee its implementation and management.