The Bremen Cancer Registry has the task of continuously and uniformly processing person-related data on the occurrence of cancer, including its early stages and certain benign tumors. Our goal is to provide a valid data basis for quality assurance in early cancer detection, diagnosis, treatment as well as for cancer epidemiology.

We can only achieve this if all diagnoses, data of pathology and information on therapy and course of the disease are reported no later than six weeks after the occurrence of a reason to report. Anyone who intentionally or negligently, in violation of § 6 BremKFG, does not submit a report, does not submit it completely or does not do so in a timely manner is therefore breaking the law. As a consequence, a fine may be imposed.

Physicians contributing to the oncological treatment of a patient are obliged to transmit treatment data to the Bremen Cancer Registry. If there is a cancer case qualifying for the reporting requirement, data are transmitted by reports based on specific reporting reasons.

Reasons for reporting are:

• The diagnosis of a tumor
• The histological, cytological or autopsy confirmation of the diagnosis
• The start, termination or discontinuation of a therapeutic measure (i.e. surgery, radiotherapy, systemic therapy)
• Changes in the course of the disease relevant for therapy or recurrence of the disease and
• Death that occurred as a cause or contributory cause of the cancer.

The third edition of the International Classification of Diseases for Oncology (ICD-O-3) serves as a coding aid. It is published by the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices and can be accessed online or downloaded here.

Reports are now only accepted via the reporting portal as individual reports or as a package via the ADT-GEKID interface. Please ask your system administrator or software provider what you have to do to ensure your inhouse IT/software is ready to transmit reports.

The information should be reported immediately but no later than six weeks after the occurrence of the reason for reporting.

Yes, general practitioners are obliged to report, too. From the diagnosis to therapy or the progression to the issuance of a death certificate, all tumor-related events that the general practitioner has diagnosed and carried out himself or herself must be reported.

Please report each tumor separately in a single data record.

The reports in the category “rejected reports” do not have be corrected. These are, for example, duplicates or reports, for which a newer/ revised reporting version has already been transmitted to the trust center.

The reporting obligation is independent of the residence place of the patient. It is only crucial that the cancer was diagnosed or treated in the state of Bremen. Data are regularly exchanged between the clinical cancer registries to ensure that data are merged in the case of cross-border treatments.

The Conference of Health Ministers (GMK) has declared that the reporting fees for reports to cancer registries are not subject to VAT.