A Narrative Review of European Registries for Skin Cancer: Where Are We and Where Should We Be?

Background: European population-based cancer registries (PBCRs) provide the foundation for monitoring skin cancer, yet registration practices and coverage vary, particularly for non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC). Methods: We conducted a narrative review combining descriptive analyses of European Cancer Information System (ECIS) outputs with evidence from the ENCR Working Group on NMSC and from national reports. A targeted PubMed search (2015–2025) assessed scientific usage of European registry data. Results: Nearly 200 PBCRs operate across about 40 European countries, with heterogeneous structures and timeliness. ECIS estimates 101,500 incident cutaneous melanomas (CM) in the European Union in 2022. Long-term data from Nordic countries shows a ten-fold incidence rise for CM over the last six decades, with recent plateauing in younger cohorts. NMSC registration still is inconsistent: some countries record both cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC), others record cSCC only, and several omit NMSC entirely. Consequently, Europe-wide NMSC figures are not available from ECIS. Global estimates exclude BCC and understate the true burden, which likely exceeds 1.5 million incident cases annually in Europe. The PubMed search identified 538 European registry-based skin cancer publications (2015–2025). Conclusions: Melanoma registration in Europe is robust, but NMSC remains under-registered. Priorities include harmonized definitions and counting rules, better integration of outpatient and pathology data, streamlined EU-level reporting, digital/AI-enabled case ascertainment, and sentinel regions to generate reliable NMSC estimates.

KATALINIC Alexander;  HAMMAS Karima;  TARASZKIEWICZ Lukasz;  LOUWMAN Marieke;  BARTNICKA Joanna;  RANDI Giorgia;  BETTIO Manola;  STANG Andreas;  EMANUELE Crocetti; 

2026-03-19

MDPI

JRC145246

2072-6694 (online),   

https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/18/3/524,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC145246,   

10.3390/cancers18030524 (online),