Age Specific SEER Incidence Rates 2003-2007

The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program of the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

(NCI) is a source of

epidemiologic Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

information on the incidence and

survival rates Survival rate is a part of survival analysis. It is the proportion of people in a study or treatment group still alive at a given period of time after diagnosis. It is a method of describing prognosis in certain disease conditions, and can be us ...

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in the United States.

The Program

SEER collects and publishes cancer incidence and survival data from population-based cancer registries covering approximately 34.6% of the population of the United States. SEER coverage includes 30.0% of

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

s, 44% of Hispanics, 49.3% of American Indians and

Alaska Natives Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numbe ...

, 57.5% of Asians, and 68.5% of Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders. The SEER Program registries routinely collect data on patient demographics,

primary tumor A primary tumor is a tumor growing at the anatomical site where tumor progression began and proceeded to yield a cancerous mass. Most cancers develop at their primary site but then go on to metastasize or spread to other parts of the body. These fur ...

site, tumor morphology and stage at diagnosis, first course of treatment, and follow-up for vital status. The SEER Program is the only comprehensive source of population-based information in the United States that includes stage of cancer at the time of diagnosis and patient survival data.

History

SEER began collecting data on cancer cases on January 1, 1973, in the states of Connecticut, Iowa, New Mexico, Utah, Hawaii, and the metropolitan areas of Detroit and San Francisco-Oakland. By 2001 the program included information on major population centers in Georgia, Washington, Louisiana, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, Alaska, California, Kentucky. This includes specific Native American populations in Arizona, Alaskan Natives, and Hispanic populations in California. National Cancer Institute funds for the program are combined with funding from the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

(CDC) through the National Program of Cancer Registries and with funding from the involved states. NCI staff work with the

North American Association of Central Cancer Registries The North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, Inc. (NAACCR), established in 1987, is a collaborative umbrella organization for cancer registries, governmental agencies, professional associations, and private groups in North Amer ...

(NAACCR) to guide all state registries to achieve data content and compatibility acceptable for pooling data and improving national estimates. The SEER team is developing computer applications to unify cancer registration systems and to analyze and disseminate population-based data. Use of surveillance data for research is being improved through Web-based access to the data and analytic tools, and linking with other national data sources. For example, a web-based tool for public health officials and policy makers, State Cancer Profiles, provides a user-friendly interface for finding cancer statistics for specific states and counties. Quality control has been an integral part of SEER since its inception.National Cancer Institut
"SEER Quality Improvement"
retrieved 27JUL2012 Every year, studies are conducted in SEER areas to evaluate the quality and completeness of the data being reported.{{citation needed, date=August 2011

References

External links

Official website
Cancer research