The Registry
The registry was founded in 1989. It is managed by the public health department of the Reunion University Hospital since 2010. It is financed by the regional health agency (ARS Réunion – Mayotte).
Contact details (Manager)
Dr Emmanuel CHIRPAZ
Registre des cancers de la Réunion
Allée des Topazes,
CS 11021
97400 SAINT DENIS
FRANCE
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
A manager (Dr E. Chirpaz) and two investigators (K. Grondinand S. Maillot) run the registry which is associated with the hospital’s clinical research and epidemiology unit (USM).
Registry population
The registry covers the whole population of The reunion. The Reunion island is a French overseas territory of 2 500 km², located in the Indian Ocean between Mauritius (170 km) and Madagascar (700 km). The population was estimated to be around 850 000 in 2014 (according to the estimations of the National Institute of Statistic and Economic Studies (INSEE)). It is a mixed and cosmopolitan population, which is relatively young for a developed country (35% less than 20 years old).
Since 2005, the registry has been extended to pediatric cancer cases (age at diagnosis < 18 years old) diagnosed in Mayotte, a small French island (376 km²) located in the Comoros archipelago (Mozambique Channel), 1 500 km away from The Reunion. In 2012, year of the last census, the population was estimated to be around 215 000 inhabitants of which 108 000 are aged less than 18 years old (50%).
Sources of information
There are 3 cancer care units (2 public hospitals and 1private clinic) including 3 oncology/hematology units, 2 radiotherapy centers, 1 unit specialized in pediatric oncology, 1 nuclear medicine unit (scintigraphy and PETSCAN); there are 6 pathology units distributed between the 2 cities of St Denis and St Pierre.
The registry collects cases from:
- the 4 public hospitals1 and the 5 private clinics2. Cases are registered using the PMSI (Medicalization Program of Information Systems), the French equivalent of the American DRG’s (Diagnosis Related Groups),
- 5 of the 6 histopathology laboratories of the Island (Dr Andreau, Dr Arrivet, Dr Fernandez, D rHougbadji, Dr Maillet) and the 2 hematology laboratories located in the University Hospital (Dr Clabe, Dr Grand),
- the regional cancer network (ONCORUN),
- Social security.
There is no histopathology laboratory in Mayotte; all analyses are performed in The Reunion Island and all pediatric cancers diagnosed in Mayotte are treated in Reunion Island.
Death certificates aren’t useful for French registries because in France, the part which contains the cause of death is anonymized.
Methods of registration
The cancer case registration is active. For each case, inclusion criteria are controlled and data collected in medical records (see registration form). Data are coded according to IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer), ENCR (European Network of Cancer Registries) and FRANCIM (French cancer registries network)guidelines, and entered into a database created in ACCESS®.
Data analysis/results
25 800 incident cancer cases (malignant tumors; non melanoma skin cancers excluded) were recorded between 1990 and 2008 in The Reunion Island. For the 2006-2008 period, 5,280 cancers were diagnosed (Crude Rate (CR) = 221.4/100,000): the age standardized incidence rates (ASR, world standard) were respectively 266.4 and 153.1/100,000 for men and women, which is significantly lower than those described in mainland France but higher than those detailed for other African countries. The most common cancers distributed by sex are:
291 pediatric cancers were diagnosed between 2005 and 2011 in the Reunion and Mayotte: 222 in The Reunion (CR = 127.0/million) and 69 in Mayotte (ASR = 101.7/million). Leukemia are the most diagnosed cancers in The Reunion Island whereas tumors of the brain and nervous system are more common in Mayotte.
FOOTNOTE
1. 4 public hospitals
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de la Réunion with 2 hospitals.Centre Hospitalier Félix Guyon (St Denis) and Groupe Hospitalier Sud Réunion (St Pierre)
- Centre Hospitalier Gabriel Martin (St Paul)
- Groupe Hospitalier Est Réunion (St Benoit))
- Centre Hospitalier de Mayotte (Mamoudzou)
2. 5 private clinics
- Clinique SteClotilde (St Denis)
- Clinique St Vincent (St Denis)
- Clinique des Orchidées (Le Port)
- Clinique Jeanne d’Arc (Le Port)
- Clinique Durieux (Le Tampon)