Follow-up for cancer incidence and vital status

In six of the participating countries (Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom), follow-up of cancer cases was based on population registries. In the other three countries (France, Germany, and Greece), a combination of methods was used including health insurance records, cancer and pathology registries, and active follow-up through study subjects and their next-of-kin. In all EPIC centres, data on vital status are collected from mortality registries at the regional or national level, which is combined with health insurance data (France) or data collected by active follow-up (Greece). Cases reported in this study were all diagnosed up to the latest dates of complete follow-up, which was between December 2002 and 2005, depending on the study centre. For Germany, Greece, and France, the end of follow-up was the last known contact, date of diagnosis, or date of death, whichever came first.