Quality assurance in melanoma care: The EU-MELACARE study Antonio Sommariva a, * , Ana-Maria Forsea b , Domenic Agius c , Paolo Antonio Ascierto d , Esther Bastiaannet e , Lorenzo Borgognoni f , Anna Demetriou g , Claus Garbe h , Zivana Gavric i , Marko Hocevar j , Kaire Innos k , Siri Larønningen l , Marieke Louwman m , Trude Eid Robsahm l , Piotr Rutkwoski n , Alexander van Akkooi o , Manuel Zorzi p , Sandro Pasquali a , Cornelis van de Velde e , Carlo Riccardo Rossi a a Veneto Institute of Oncology IOVIRCCS, Padua, Italy b Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Elias University Hospital, Bucharest, Romania c Malta National Cancer Registry, Malta d Istituto Nazionale Tumori IRCCS Fondazione "G. Pascale", Naples, Italy e Department of Surgery Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands f Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Tuscan Cancer Institute, Italy g Cyprus Cancer Registry, Nicosia, Cyprus h University Hospital Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany i Cancer Registry Republic of Srpska, Banja Luka, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina j Institute of Oncology, Ljubljana, Slovenia k Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, National Institute for Health Development, Tallinn, Estonia l The Cancer Registry of Norway, Institute of Population-based Cancer Research, Oslo, Norway m Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation, The Netherlands n Maria Sklodowska-Curie Institute-Oncology Center, Warsaw, Poland o Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands p Registro Tumori del Veneto, Padua, Italy article info Article history: Accepted 21 June 2018 Available online xxx Keywords: Melanoma Quality assurance Audit Data registration abstract Background: A significant disparity regarding survival outcome for melanoma among European regions is well recognized and access to high quality care for European melanoma patients needs to be improved. There is an unmet need for the implementation of minimal standard of care within defined clinical pathways and Quality Assurance (QA) indicators. Objective: The EU-MELACARE study aims to identify shared variables for cutaneous melanoma cases recorded in melanoma registries across Europe. Material and methods: Opinion leaders involved in melanoma data registration and care quality analysis in 34 European countries were invited to respond to an expert survey covering questions regarding the melanoma registration practice in their countries and the characteristics, coverage and variables collected by the relevant melanoma registries. Results: Data regarding 13 melanoma registries from 11 European countries contributed to the study. The majority (61,5%) were population based registries and more than half (62%) had national coverage. The included registries collected a median of 38 variables (Interquartile Range, IRQ 21e76). We identified 24 shared variables available in >70% of registries. Conclusions: This study provides valuable specific information on information recorded for melanoma cases are registered within Europe. A core of shared variables has been identified, which will constitute the basis for a standardized set of QA indicators for assessing and monitoring melanoma care across European countries. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd, BASO ~ The Association for Cancer Surgery, and the European Society of Surgical Oncology. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. Surgical Oncology Department, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV-IRCCS, Via Gattamelata 64, 35122, Padova, Italy. E-mail address: antonio.sommariva@iov.veneto.it (A. Sommariva). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect European Journal of Surgical Oncology journal homepage: www.ejso.com https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejso.2018.06.020 0748-7983/© 2018 Elsevier Ltd, BASO ~ The Association for Cancer Surgery, and the European Society of Surgical Oncology. All rights reserved. European Journal of Surgical Oncology xxx (2018) 1e6 Please cite this article in press as: Sommariva A, et al., Quality assurance in melanoma care: The EU-MELACARE study, European Journal of Surgical Oncology (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejso.2018.06.020