Among the indicators used in cancer epidemiology, prevalence is the one that best represents the impact on society, defined as the percentage of people alive on a certain date who had previously received a diagnosis of the disease.

Prevalence is estimated using information from population-based Cancer Registries, which collect data on cancer diseases for all residents in a given territory. Cases occurring before the activation of the Cancer Registry, which were not observed but are still alive, are estimated using the COMPREV software, developed by the National Cancer Institute (USA) in collaboration with researchers from the Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies (IRPPS) and the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS).

The objective of the current COMPREV project is, on one hand, to develop a methodology that can be integrated into the COMPREV software to calculate prevalence by phases of care: initial treatment, monitoring, and the last year of life; and, on the other hand, to provide the expertise for the restyling and updating of the software.

Silvia Francisci

https://surveillance.cancer.gov/comprev/