Norwegian Childhood Cancer Registry

Cancer in children is rare, in 2023 there were 214 new registered cancer cases for children in the age group 0-17. Children have equally good prospects of recovery no matter where in Norway they live.
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The Norwegian Childhood Cancer Registry registers cancer in children under the age of 18. The registry has existed since 1985 and the Cancer Registry of Norway is responsible for data processing. Few children get cancer in Norway each year, which can be a challenge for research on treatment effects. 

The NOPHO-Care project and right of reservation

The purpose of the National Quality Register for Childhood Cancer is to contribute to strengthening the quality of health care provided to children with cancer, as well as to promote research to develop new knowledge about cancer's causes, diagnosis, course of the disease, treatment effects and late effects of the treatment.

There is extensive cooperation in the Nordic countries between the professional communities to constantly improve the situation for children who get cancer. As part of this Nordic cooperation, Norway participates in a research project called "NOPHO-Care". This cooperation across national borders is necessary to increase knowledge and improve treatment, since there are very few children per Nordic country who receive such a cancer diagnosis (in Norway approx. 200 per year).

Norway's participation in NOPHO-Care means that health data (about the disease and treatment, but no directly personally identifiable data) for children with a cancer diagnosis from 2019 onwards are transferred from the Cancer Register to the Nordic database located in Stockholm. Here, the health information from children from all over the Nordic countries and some Baltic countries will be collected, and analyzes will be carried out that shed light on any differences in incidence, survival and various factors that may influence any differences. These results must be regularly presented in various reports and research articles, and the data processing complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the requirements of the Health Insurance Act.

If you do not want your/your child's health information to be transferred to NOPHO-Care, you must actively reserve against this. This is done by contacting the quality register manager, Aina Helen Dahlen, by e-mail: aida@kreftregisteret.no or tel. 22 92 88 62.

If you have no objections to the project, you do not need to take any action.

For more information about childhood cancer, see the Norwegian Cancer Society´s pages about different types of cancer and the Norwegian Childhood Cancer Society's website

Facts about childhood cancer at kreftregisteret.no

National Quality Registry for Childhood Cancer at kvalitetsregistre.no

Registration to the register

Registration of clinical information to the Norwegian Childhood Cancer Registry is done electronically via KREMT on the Norwegian Health Network. KREMT has functions to make the work with reporting easier. 

Reminders for missing messages and receipts for submitted messages are available in the KREMT portal. It is also possible to intermediate storage the forms.

To encourage reporting, administrative and clinical statistics have been compiled that provide hospitals with updated results for their unit. These statistics are updated daily.

Degree of coverage and data quality

Patient group

All children and adolescents under the age of 18 diagnosed with a cancer diag-nose must be included in the Norwegian Childhood Cancer Registry. The registry contains detailed information on cases of cancer registered according to the classification system ICCC3 (International Classification of Childhood Cancer).

The Norwegian Childhood Cancer Registry registers information on assessment, treatment and follow-up of this patient group. The treatment differs between the different diagnoses, but often includes different combinations of chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy.  

Quality objectives

Treating devices

Cancer in children is assessed, treated and followed up at the regional hospitals. All doctors who provide health care to children with cancer are obliged to report to the Cancer Registry, which includes the Norwegian Childhood Cancer Registry. 

Findings