Linking local cancer registries and national death records: a crucial step for accurate survival data in Saudi Arabia

The study's findings underscore the limitations of the current system. The mortality data from the health systems alone cannot be relied upon, as they only report deaths within their system. To obtain accurate and complete data, trustworthy sources such as the National Death Registry must be utilized. The direct (active) follow-up, while effective, is a resource-intensive process that cannot be used for all cancer patients, even at the hospital level. Therefore, adopting the proposed computerized linkage is recommended.