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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Cancer Prevention and Control 4770 Buford Hwy, NE MS K-64 Atlanta, GA 30341-3717 Call: 1 (800) CDC-INFO TTY: 1 (888) 232-6348 FAX: (770) 488-4760 E-mail: cdcinfo@cdc.gov Submit a Question Online |
About the ProgramDownload the 2008/2009 National Program of Cancer Registries fact sheet. (PDF-1.1MB) State-based cancer registries are data systems that collect, manage, and analyze data about cancer cases and cancer deaths. In each state, medical facilities (including hospitals, physicians' offices, therapeutic radiation facilities, freestanding surgical centers, and pathology laboratories) report these data to a central cancer registry. Established by Congress through the Cancer Registries Amendment Act in 1992, and administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) collects data on the occurrence of cancer; the type, extent, and location of the cancer; and the type of initial treatment. Before NPCR was established, 10 states had no registry, and most states with registries lacked the resources and legislative support they needed to gather complete data. Today, NPCR supports central cancer registries in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Pacific Island Jurisdictions. These data represent 96% of the U.S. population. Together, NPCR and the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program collect data for the entire U.S. population. The Burden of CancerThe cancer community has made extraordinary progress during the past two decades in developing and using cancer prevention strategies, early detection interventions, and cancer treatments. Nonetheless, every year cancer claims the lives of more than half a million Americans.1 Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, exceeded only by heart disease.1 One of every four deaths in the United States is due to cancer.1 According to the U.S. Cancer Statistics: 2004 Incidence and Mortality report, 553,880 people—about 1,500 people a day—died of cancer in the United States in 2004.*2 That same year, 1,342,126 Americans were diagnosed with cancer.2 This number excludes diagnoses of preinvasive cancer (except for urinary bladder cancer) and the approximately 1 million cases of nonmelanoma skin cancer that were diagnosed in the United States in 2004.2 3 In addition to its devastating personal impact, cancer cost this country an estimated $219 billion overall in 2007, including nearly $130 billion for lost productivity and more than $89 billion in direct medical costs.4 *Incidence counts cover approximately 98% of the U.S. population. Death counts cover 100% of the U.S. population. Use caution in comparing incidence and death counts.
AccomplishmentsData collected by state cancer registries help public health professionals understand and address the nation's cancer burden. Vital information about cancer cases and cancer deaths is necessary for health agencies to report on cancer trends, assess the impact of cancer prevention and control efforts, participate in research, and respond to reports of suspected increases in cancer occurrence. Some of NPCR's accomplishments to date include: United States Cancer Statistics (USCS) Cancer Incidence in Five Continents Software for Collecting and Processing Data Cancer Surveillance Research
These and other public health efforts that address cancer registries support CDC's overarching goal of healthy people in every stage of life. They also address the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Healthy People 2010 goal of increasing the number of states that have a statewide population-based cancer registry and that capture case information on at least 95% of the expected number of reportable cancers.
Ongoing WorkNPCR's cancer monitoring activities for fiscal year 2008 include
Future DirectionsCDC's NPCR will expand the use of information technology designed to support, improve, and enhance the management and exchange of electronic data in cancer surveillance activities, particularly in cancer registries. This effort supports the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' mandate to develop a national health information infrastructure, and, as part of that infrastructure, to develop the electronic health record. NPCR data are used to monitor and target cancer control activities related to access to care. In partnership with representatives from NPCR-funded state registries, CDC is in the planning stages of allowing access to de-identified, individual record-level data to approved applications, including researchers at national cancer organizations and universities. In addition, linkage of cancer registry data with state vital records, the Social Security Death Index, and the National Death Index will provide follow-up information needed for survival and survivorship studies. NPCR will work on data collection and methodologic issues related to improving the measurement of survival time, including projections of short-term and long-term survival for recent cohorts of patients, to measure and estimate prevalence. References1Kung H-C, Hoyert DL, Xu J, Murphy SL. Deaths: Final data for 2005. (PDF-808KB) National Vital Statistics Reports 2008;56(10). 2U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group. United States Cancer Statistics: 2004 Incidence and Mortality. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Cancer Institute; 2007. 3American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts and Figures 2008.* (PDF-1.4MB) Atlanta, GA: American Cancer Society; 2008. 4National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Fact Book Fiscal Year 2006. (PDF-4.25MB) Bethesda, MD: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; 2007. Please note: Some of these publications are available for download only as *.pdf files. These files require Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to be viewed. Please review the information on downloading and using Acrobat Reader software. *Links to non-Federal organizations found at this site are provided solely as a service to our users. These links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at these links.
Page last reviewed: November 19, 2008
Page last updated: November 19, 2008 Content source: Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion |
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