Epidemiology, Biostatistics& Cancer Registry

The purpose of the PBCR is to collect data on all new cancers occurring in a defined population within a geographic area with emphasis on epidemiology and public health, whereas in HBCR, data collection is done on all cancers attending the hospital with emphasis on providing inputs to hospital administration and its research program besides patient care.

The Hospital Based Cancer Registry at the institute has been functioning since its inception in 1954. It is often a pre-requisite for the hospital’s research programme and the registry takes concerted efforts to achieve the highest levels of data quality. Disease status is documented for all patients at each hospital visit and vital status for active follow-up when the patient defaults on hospital visits.

The goal of the registry is lifetime follow up, which is unique and integrated to this HBCR, enabling the generation of surveillance outcomes on disease free and overall survival for patients surviving five years and more from diagnosis of cancer over several decades in time paving way to evidence based medicine. HBCR helps to monitor the downstaging of common cancers.

The Cancer Institute (W.I.A) is the pioneer in demographic cancer registration in the state of Tamil Nadu. The Madras Metropolitan Tumour Registry (MMTR) has been in vogue since 1981, covering the entire metropolitan population of Chennai city. The Dindigul Ambilikkai Cancer registry (DACR) was established in 2003 covering the entire district of Dindigul and catering to a predominantly rural population.

The registry surveillance statistics provided significant leads for initiating the statewide screening program for cancers of the uterine cervix and female breast under the Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project (TNHSP) of the State Health Mission with World Bank funding in 2008.

Population-based cancer surveillance through Tamil Nadu Cancer Registry Program (TNCRP) now covers 8 crore population, the largest by a single registry in the world. TNCRP is in collaboration with the department of health and family welfare, government of Tamil Nadu. The new cancer burden is estimated to cross 1 lakh this year (2026), occurring at the rate of one in thousand population. There are more women with cancer than men. There is an increasing trend of most cancers with an exception of cervix cancer in Tamil Nadu.

The Tamil Nadu Population-Based Childhood Cancer Registry (TN-PBCCR), led by the Cancer Institute (W.I.A.), Adyar, is a pioneering initiative aimed at improving childhood cancer outcomes through high-quality, population-based data collection. Established in October 2022, the Chennai PBCCR is India’s first dedicated registry focused exclusively on childhood cancers (0–19 years). It builds upon the long-standing Madras Metropolitan Tumor Registry (MMTR), operational since 1981 under the National Cancer Registry Programme (NCRP) of ICMR.