Cancer Data For Good : A History of the Victorian Cancer Registry

This book examines the history of the Victorian Cancer Registry (VCR) in Australia from its establishment in the late 1930s through to the present day. It sheds new light on the history of medicine and the broader social and cultural histories affected by advances in cancer control science, providing a historical account of cancer registration that is empirically grounded in new archival and oral sources. It addresses the obstacles that proponents of cancer registration faced, how governments came to support permanent registries, and the subsequent contributions of the VCR and other registries to cancer research. In charting this history, the book discusses some of the political, social, and cultural implications of registry-driven science, and the links between developments in scientific knowledge and campaigning for policy changes around cancer. Dr Thomas Kehoe is a modern historian and since 2020, has headed the Heritage Project at Cancer Council Victoria. In this role, he works with other scholars, museums, and archives to reveal the long and challenging history of cancer control in Victoria and its impact on modern health. Prior to joining the Council, he was postdoctoral research fellow at the University of New England and taught modern history, politics, and criminology at the University of Melbourne, the Australian Catholic University, and Swinburne University of Technology (Australia) Foreword Acknowledgements Contents Abbreviations Chapter 1: Cancer Registration: A Neglected History The Cancer Problem and Cancer Registration Victoria’s Cancer Registry in Context References Chapter 2: A Thirst for Data: Establishing the Victorian Cancer Registry, 1936–1945 Challenges of Establishing a New Registry A Brief Start References Chapter 3: Post-War Recovery, Expansion, and Technological Advancement, 1945–1968 The Later Fowler Years, 1945–1955 The Keogh Years, 1955–1968 The Registry and Council Priorities Promoting Research and Registration References Chapter 4: The “Gray” Years: Technological Advancement and Legislative Change, 1968–1981 Nigel Gray and a New Vision for the Council Nigel Gray’s First Steps on the World Stage of Cancer Registration, 1972–1976 Towards a PBCR, 1975–1980 References Chapter 5: New Possibilities: The VCR as a Population-Based Registry, 1981–1990 A New Director: Graham Giles Arrives How to Use a PBCR? Necessary Institutions Using the VCR for Cancer Epidemiology References Chapter 6: The VCR as a Tool for Population Research and Intervention, 1991–2010 Towards the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study: Key Relationships and Funding Strengthening National and International Connections Expanding Contributions and Transformations in Cancer Epidemiology Into the 2000s References Chapter 7: Towards the Future: New Leadership and State of the Art Technology, 2011–2019 References Epilogue: From the Current Director Keeping Abreast of Data Requirements Thinking Smarter About Data Capture, Analysis, and Presentation Catering for a Changing Workforce Conclusion References