The development of cancer registration, from the introduction of obligatory notification and the establishment of National Cancer Registry of Slovakia, is described. The activity of the registry is illustrated by the list of publications which have emanated from this institution in recent years. The survey is completed by the analysis of the incidence rates of individual cancer sites in the last 5-year period (1984-1988) and by their trends in the decade 1979-1988. The positive role of the registry in the establishment of a cancer control programme and the investigation of cancer epidemiology is stressed.