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U.S. National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute

About the SEER Registries

SEER began collecting data on cancer cases on January 1, 1973, in the states of Connecticut, Iowa, New Mexico, Utah, and Hawaii and the metropolitan areas of Detroit and San Francisco-Oakland. In 1974-1975, the metropolitan area of Atlanta and the 13-county Seattle-Puget Sound area were added. In 1978, 10 predominantly black rural counties in Georgia were added, followed in 1980 by the addition of American Indians residing in Arizona. Three additional geographic areas participated in the SEER program prior to 1990: New Orleans, Louisiana (1974-1977, rejoined 2001); New Jersey (1979- 1989, rejoined 2001); and Puerto Rico (1973-1989). The National Cancer Institute also funds a cancer registry that, with technical assistance from SEER, collects information on cancer cases among Alaska Native populations residing in Alaska.In 1992, the SEER Program was expanded to increase coverage of minority populations, especially Hispanics, by adding Los Angeles County and four counties in the San Jose-Monterey area south of San Francisco. In 2001, the SEER Program expanded coverage to include Kentucky and the remaining counties in California (Greater California); in addition, New Jersey and Louisiana once again became participants. For the expansion registries (Kentucky, Greater California, New Jersey, and Louisiana), NCI funds are combined with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the National Program of Cancer Registries and with funding from the states.

Use the links in the map below to view a description of each SEER registry, including the number of persons by race. The number of persons by race for all registries combined are presented in a separate table.

US Map with Clickable SEER Registries

Seattle-Puget Sound Arizona Utah New Mexico Louisiana Iowa Kentucky Detroit Los Angeles New Jersey Connecticut Rural Georgia Atlanta Hawaii Alaska San Francisco-Oakland San Jose-Monterey Greater California

SEER Investigators Web site (login required) - provides communication and contact materials for investigators from the SEER registries.