Cancer Registry is an institution which is responsible for the collection, storage, analysis and interpretation of data on persons with cancer.  

Cancer Registration is a process of continuing, systematic collection of data on the occurrence, characteristics and outcome of reportable neoplasms with the purpose of helping to assess and control the impact of malignant disease in the community.  Broadly there are two types of cancer Registries-Population Based (PBCR) and Hospital Based (HBCR).The HBCR records all cases of cancer treated in a given hospital irrespective of the population from which the cases has come.  The main interest is clinical care in hospital setting. The primary concern of PBCR is cancer in the community.  The PBCR collects information on all new cancer in a defined population and provide information on cancer incidence, mortality and trends over time in the defined population/geographic area covered by the registry. 

The Delhi Cancer Registry is a Population Based Cancer Registry established in January 1986 with the aim of obtaining reliable morbidity and mortality data on cancer occurring among the Delhi Urban residents. 

The Delhi PBCR covers an urban area of 891.09 square kilometers of Delhi Municipal Corporation, New Delhi Municipal Committee and Delhi Cantonment and 29 census towns with an estimated population of 1,30,88,133 (Males : 7186306, Females:5901827) as per 2001 census. 

The sources of cancer data are various departments viz. Radiotherapy, Pathology, Hematology, Radiology and Medical records of more than 165 major Government hospital centers, 250 private hospitals and nursing homes and Department of Vital Statistics of New Delhi Municipal Committee and Delhi Municipal Corporation.