Transcript No Slide Title

Cancer Tracking:
The State of the Nation
James S. Marks, M.D., M.P.H.
Director
Chronic Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion
“ If the United States is to reduce the human and
financial costs of chronic diseases with effective
public health prevention efforts, the first step is
to establish a tracking capacity for chronic
diseases and environmental exposures.”
Source: Transition Report to the New Administration: Strengthening our Public Health Defense
Against Environmental Threats. January 2001, The PEW ENVIROMENTAL HEALTH
COMMISSION
• Why cancer tracking is critical.
• Why strong cancer registries are
needed in every state.
• The present and future of cancer
registries.
State Cancer Registries
PURPOSE:
• Is progress occurring?
• Are specific populations at higher risk?
• Are cancer prevention and control efforts
having the expected effect?
• Where and how would resources be best
used?
• Evaluate clusters, quality of care and new
interventions.
CDC’s National Program of Cancer
Registries
• Providing national leadership by helping
states and territories:
• Fund all 45 states not wholly funded by SEER
• Recommend standards for data
completeness, timeliness, and quality
• Modernize and computerize reporting and
data-processing
• Develop laws and regulations that promote
quality registries
NAACCR*-Certified State
Cancer Registries
1997
1998
2000
2002
DC
*North American Association of Central Cancer Registries
Certification of data from cancers diagnosed 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000
DC
Female Breast Cancer Cases Diagnosed
at Early Stage
Michigan, 1985–1987
Percentage
of Cases
< 39.1
39.1–48.1
48.2–55.9
56 & over
Female Breast Cancer Cases Diagnosed
at Early Stage
Michigan, 1995–1997
Percentage
of Cases
< 39.1
39.1–48.1
48.2–55.9
56 & over
Patterns of Care Study
• Two studies examining four cancer
sites: breast, prostate, colon and
ovarian.
• Compares quality of treatment data
reported to NPCR registries with data
from medical records
• Population-based samples estimate
proportion of patients who receive
recommended standard of care
What is the Present and Future of Cancer
Registries
• Trust for America’s Health- “Improving Cancer
Tracking Today Saves Lives Tomorrow: Do States
Make the Grade?” is an interim report in establishing
systems and great growth in the quality of data.
• The future is to use cancer registries for issues of
cancer prevention, detection and care.
• To serve as a model, as implied in the first Trust For
America’s Health report, “America’s Environmental
Health Gap: Why the Country Needs a Nationwide
Health Tracking Network” for the tracking of critical
chronic disease health problems of our time.
The Cancer Weapon America Needs Most
“ Although not as glamorous, cancer
tabulation can be more important in the
fight against cancer than performing an
intricate operation or an elegant
experiment. A network of cancer
registries can be our most potent new
weapon against the disease. “
Source: Healey JH. The cancer weapon America needs most. Reader’s Digest June
1992;140(842):69–72.
The Cancer Weapon America Needs Most
“ People do not naturally rally round a
cause like cancer record-keeping
because no one can point to victims
who will suffer without it. Rather, it is
our larger understanding of cancer that
suffers. And thus, we are all victims. “
Source: Healey JH. The cancer weapon America needs most. Reader’s Digest June
1992;140(842):69–72.