About the Cancer Statistics Branch

The Cancer Statistics Branch (CSB) is one of two branches under the Surveillance Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, NCI. CSB conducts research and developmental activities related to the surveillance of cancer patterns in the United States and monitoring progress against cancer. Staff members collaborate on epidemiologic studies to provide overall assessments of these patterns. CSB actively consults with other government, private and public organizations and prepares regular reports, geographical summaries and journal articles on cancer statistics. The entire staff collaborate on development, implementation, and promotion of data standards for cancer surveillance.

The mission of the Cancer Statistics Branch is to provide essential information for tracking the Nation’s progress against cancer.  We carry out our mission by:

• Managing the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program, an authoritative source of population-based cancer incidence and survival data in the United States.
• Providing national and international leadership to the cancer surveillance community in the areas of data collection, analysis and reporting; quality improvement; education and training.
• Providing annual reports on the cancer burden as well as other assessments of changes in cancer patterns over time or in specific population subgroups defined by geographic, demographic, and social characteristics.
• Serving as a research resource both to the National Cancer Institute and to the general research community by providing the infrastructure for studying cancer patterns in the United States.