The Greek segment of the EPIC study started in 1994, after the successful implementation of a pilot study during 1991-1993. Recruitment of volunteers was completed in 1999. The Greek cohort consists of 28,572 adults recruited from all over Greece and representing a broad range of socio-demographic factors.

Data collection was accomplished by means of an interview during a baseline examination in which the following information was recorded:

• medical and reproductive history
  
• socio-demographic and lifestyle factors, and
  
• habitual diet
  

Baseline examination also included measurement of anthropometric data and collection of blood samples.

The follow-up of study participants, initiated in January 1997, is on-going and focuses on the update of information on lifestyle factors and, most importantly, the health status of the participants. Due to the lack of a national cancer registry and the country-wide nature of EPIC-Greece, information is being collected through interviewer-administered questionnaires or telephone interviews. Reported diagnoses of interest are further ascertained through consultation of medical files in hospitals and clinics all over Greece or, in case of death, through the collection of death certificates from the regional death registries.