Use of a histopathology data pool for epidemiological analysis.

Data from the Birmingham Histopathology Data Pool of surgical pathology on the age, sex, and site distributions of various cutaneous and hepatic lesions have been analysed, and the results have been compared with data from the Regional Cancer Registry. Analysis of malignant neoplasms shows that there is no significant difference between the two sources. The results are discussed with reference to the potential use of histopathology data banks for quality assurance in histopathology and epidemiological analysis.