Cancer registry
Encyclopedia
A cancer registry is a systematic collection of data about cancer
and tumor
diseases. The data is collected by Cancer Registrar
s. Cancer Registrars capture a complete summary of patient history, diagnosis, treatment, and status for every cancer patient in the United States, and other countries as well.
There exist population-based cancer registries and hospital
cancer registries (also called hospital-based cancer registries).
. This organization acts as a voice for the registries when dealing with national standard-setting organizations, sets standards for digital cancer record transmission, and certifies the registries for the quality of their data, among other functions.
data can be sent from a hospital cancer registry to a population-based registry thus reducing documentation efforts.
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
and tumor
Tumor
A tumor or tumour is commonly used as a synonym for a neoplasm that appears enlarged in size. Tumor is not synonymous with cancer...
diseases. The data is collected by Cancer Registrar
National Cancer Registrars Association
The National Cancer Registrars Association is a not-for-profit association representing cancer registry professionals and Certified Tumor Registrars . NCRA's primary focus is education and certification with the goal to ensure all cancer registry professionals have the required knowledge to be...
s. Cancer Registrars capture a complete summary of patient history, diagnosis, treatment, and status for every cancer patient in the United States, and other countries as well.
There exist population-based cancer registries and hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
cancer registries (also called hospital-based cancer registries).
Population-based cancer registry
Population-based cancer registries monitor the frequency of new cancer cases(so-called incident cases)every year in well defined populations and over time by collecting case reports from different sources (treatment facilities, clinicians and pathologists, and death certificates). The frequency of these incident cases are expected per 100,000 of the mother population. If an unexpected accumulation can be observed a hypothesis about possible causes is generated. This hypothesis is investigated in a second step by collecting more detailed data. The aim is to recognize and to reduce risks. Population-based registries can also monitor the effects of preventive measures. All population-based central registries in the United States and Canada are members of the North American Association of Central Cancer RegistriesNorth American Association of Central Cancer Registries
-North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, Inc. :Established in 1987, NAACCR, Inc. is a collaborative umbrella organization for cancer registries, governmental agencies, professional associations, and private groups in North America interested in enhancing the quality and use of...
. This organization acts as a voice for the registries when dealing with national standard-setting organizations, sets standards for digital cancer record transmission, and certifies the registries for the quality of their data, among other functions.
Hospital cancer registry
Hospital cancer registries aim at the improvement of cancer therapy. Therefore they have to collect detailed data about diagnosis and therapy. Improvements can be achieved by:- comparison of therapy - which therapy is the best
- comparison of therapists - which hospital, which physician has the best results under the same conditions (quality managementQuality managementThe term Quality management has a specific meaning within many business sectors. This specific definition, which does not aim to assure 'good quality' by the more general definition , can be considered to have four main components: quality planning, quality control, quality assurance and quality...
) - support of treatment - registries can improve information about a patient and help to provide an optimal treatment by planning therapies and generating reminders
Co-operation of registries
Since the data needed by hospital cancer registries usually include those of population-based cancer registries and both use the same classificationsMedical classification
Medical classification, or medical coding, is the process of transforming descriptions of medical diagnoses and procedures into universal medical code numbers...
data can be sent from a hospital cancer registry to a population-based registry thus reducing documentation efforts.
Cancer reporting standards
Hospital and Population-based cancer registries report their incidence data to national organizations that aggregate and publish the data. The way in which these data are formatted to be submitted to these organizations are determined by standards released by standard-setting organizations. Edits are run on the data to check for inaccuracies and duplicate cases before being submitted electronically. Different organizations have different standards for data reliability and completeness, and some award certifications based on the adherence to these standards.External links
- National Cancer Registrars Association
- U.S. National Cancer Institute SEER program
- California Cancer Registars Association (CCRA)
- Cancer Information Management (CIM)
- Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)
- North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR)
- Cancer Data Mapping and Reporting
- National Cancer Registry Program of EgyptAustralasianAssociation of Cancer Registries]