The ENCR and the JRC (Joint Research Centre of the European Commission) invite population-based cancer registries to contribute data for updating the European Cancer Information System (ECIS) on an annual basis:
- Rolling contribution is possible throughout the year
- Submissions received by 31 January each year will be considered for inclusion in the update of ECIS indicators to be released later in the same calendar year
- Data must be submitted through the secure JRC Data Submission portal
The ECIS data call supports the regular updating of ECIS, which provides comparable information on cancer incidence, mortality, prevalence and survival across Europe, based on data from population-based cancer registries. The ENCR and the JRC collaborate to maintain this shared database in line with common coding, validation, and data-protection requirements.
Legal and Data Protection Framework
Starting from 2022, the JRC has established a Collaboration Agreement with the ENCR registries, aimed at structuring and formalizing collaboration on data harmonisation activities, as well as data provision to ECIS. The purpose and conditions of data processing operations at the JRC performed on data submitted by ENCR registries to maintain ECIS are accessible in the ECIS data protection record.
The JRC Data Submission Portal
The data required for ECIS is submitted to the JRC through the secure JRC Data Submission Portal. Using the portal, the registries benefit from high security and built-in mechanisms to manage contribution to ECIS, and to track record of all transactions performed on the data to allow for transparency and accountability. Access to the portal is linked to personal credentials and registry-specific identification managed by the JRC.
To facilitate the data submission process, a submission portal user manual guides registered users in the data submission process.
Required fles
The ECIS data protocol outlines the requirements and guidelines for data submission, which includes the following file types:
- Incidence data file
- Mortality data file
- Population data file
- Life table data file
In addition to uploading the data files, registries must complete the ECIS data submission Questionnaire, in order to describe the specificities of the data provided.
Important: A submission is considered complete only once the questionnaire has also been filled in and received.
Data Validation
The JRC validates the submitted data according to the most updated international and European coding rules, specifically the "Data quality checks for validation of the ECIS database”. Participating cancer registries receive feedback on the quality of the submitted data.
Participating cancer registries are invited to use the latest version of the JRC-ENCR Quality Checks software (QCS) to validate source-level data before submitting them to the JRC.
Key Documents and Manuals
Core submission documents
- ECIS data protocol — requirements and guidelines for data submission.
- Portal user manual — how to log in, navigate the portal, upload files, and respond to feedback.
- ECIS data submission questionnaire — information to be completed for each submission.
Validation and quality
- Data quality checks for validation of the ECIS database — ECIS data validation rules.
- JRC-ENCR Quality Check Software (QCS) — software to perform data quality checks and test the adherence of data to the ECIS required format.
For the ECIS submission, registries should prepare files according to the ECIS data protocol, validate the data with QCS, follow the portal manual to complete the upload, and use the questionnaire link to finalise the submission.
Webinar on ECIS submission
A recorded webinar with step-by-step instructions for ECIS submission can be found here: ECIS Data Call Info Webinar: December 2025 - recording available | European Network of Cancer Registries
Contact/ Help
Please contact the ENCR Secretariat at the Joint Research Centre should you need any support.