In response to the rapidly increasing phenomenon of global migrations, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the global research agenda on health, migration, and displacement, with the overarching aim of strengthening research and translating research priorities into policy and practice. Within this framework, the Cancer RADAR project is explicitly designed to address a structural lack of high-quality data and policy-relevant research on cancer among migrant and displaced populations.

Migration to and within Europe has increased and diversified in recent years. Individuals with a migration background often have health needs that differ from those of the general (host) population of a country. In addition, they can face important barriers to accessing the right health care.

A unified quantification of current disparities in cancer by migration background in Europe does not exist. This impedes policy-makers from acting on the health needs of migrants.

To fill this knowledge gap, the Cancer RADAR project developed an infrastructure that enables quantification of the risk of cancer stratified by migration background across Europe.

To establish this, Cancer RADAR selected cancer types based on their actionability, focusing on those that are infection-related, are detectable through established screening programmes, or are amenable to detection through targeted screening: cancers of the breast, colorectum, cervix, stomach, liver, and lung.