Evidence Hub

Temporal trends in epidemiology and patient characteristics of 36 cancers: a protocol for a multinational population-based cohort study using OMOP-standardised databases to investigate CANcer (OMOPCAN)

López-Sánchez I, Palomar-Cros A, Giuliodori A, Granés L, Pérez-Crespo L, Raventós B, Burn E, Barchuk A et al.

BMJ open, 2026

Abstract

Introduction: Cancer registries remain the gold standard for global cancer monitoring, yet complementing them with electronic health records and claims can significantly enhance the understanding of the cancer burden by providing a more complete picture of the patient journey. The main aim of this project is to serve as a proof of concept for using real-world data mapped to the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) common data model (CDM) to monitor cancer epidemiology over time and characterise patients' clinical history and outcomes.

Methods and analysis: This study will be conducted as an observational cohort study using a multinational network of large real-world data sources mapped to the OMOP CDM. Electronic health records (EHR) from primary and secondary care, health insurance claims and cancer registry data will be included. To date, 20 databases from 16 countries, mainly from Europe but also North America and Asia, have committed to participate in the project.We will investigate the temporal trends in incidence, prevalence and survival of 36 cancers across haematopoietic and solid tumours from 2000 (or the start of accurate data if later) to the last year with complete data. Data from all individuals registered in each of the participating data sources will be eligible for inclusion in the study. For primary care EHR and claims, individuals will be required to have at least 1 year of prior observation to ensure the identification of incident cases and…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a clinical trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 3 of 5 (Moderate · trial / cohort / secondary analysis). Trials without a large randomized design, cohorts and secondary analyses give moderate evidence.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

Read the paper

Related studies

Go deeper in Evidence Hub

Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.

Open this study Sign up free