Theme “Cancer Registrars: The Core of Your Cancer Program” Spotlights Critical Role Registrars as Cancer Data Management Experts Play in Cancer Treatment and Research Programs

More than 4,000 cancer registrars, their colleagues, and community leaders will commemorate the annual National Cancer Registrars Week, April 9-13, 2007. The theme of the 2007 National Cancer Registrars Week, “Cancer Registrars: The Core of Your Cancer Program,” was chosen by National Cancer Registrars Association (NCRA) to capture the central role cancer registrars play in shaping quality care in successful cancer programs, while spotlighting the expertise and skills of cancer registrars.

Cancer registrars are data management experts working in cancer treatment and research settings.  They find, interpret and record a wide range of demographic and medical information on people with cancer. The information is submitted to state and national cancer registries for use in research, treatment and prevention initiatives.  Cancer programs are thus able to accurately determine cancer patient populations, measure outcomes of treatment and survival, and formulate plans for quality improvement.

“Continued training and education is crucial for cancer registrars to stay up-to-date with ever-changing regulations,” said Toni Hare, Vice President of Cleveland-based CHAMPS Oncology Data Services. “It's a challenging profession so it's important to recognize the vital role registrars play in providing quality cancer data for healthcare planning, evaluation of patient care and clinical outcomes."

“Cancer registrars are at the core of every single cancer program.  We hope this important week will shine a spotlight on the dedicated work of cancer registrars in communities across America,” said NCRA President Marilyn Hansen, CTR.  “Physicians, researchers, and health care administrators rely on accurate cancer data every day, and cancer registrars really deliver.”

Quality cancer data is central to the nation’s cancer control efforts and cancer registrars are the first link by capturing data on patients diagnosed with cancer. This data often results in the publication of groundbreaking research, such as the recently released study by the American Cancer Society, “Cancer Statistics, 2007.”  Key results in the study were based on data from two national cancer registries––the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program of the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR).

Cancer registrars will mark National Cancer Registrars Week with staff recognition events, media activities, public education and networking activities.  The week also affords NCRA an opportunity to promote cancer registry careers.  NCRA recently completed a study showing an increasing demand for cancer registrars over the next fifteen years.  This exciting profession is both an interesting and promising career for those who want to make a difference in the war on cancer.  Additional information on NCRW and the cancer registry profession can be found at www.ncra-usa.org.

About the National Cancer Registrars Association

Chartered in May 1974, the National Cancer Registrars Association is a non-profit organization that represents more than 4,000 cancer registry professionals and Certified Tumor Registrars.  The mission of NCRA is to promote education, credentialing, and advocacy for cancer registry professionals. Cancer Registrars capture a complete summary of patient history, diagnosis, treatment, and status for every cancer patient in the United States, and other countries as well. Cancer Registrars hope their work will lead to better treatments, and ultimately, a cure.    

 For more information about NCRA, visit ncra-usa.org.

About the CHAMPS Oncology Data Services

With three decades of excellence in managing and analyzing cancer data, CHAMPS ODS is recognized as an expert in the field and maintains a solid commitment to helping healthcare providers operate strong cancer programs that effectively contribute to the war on cancer.  With two of 26 nationally recognized Commission-on-Cancer Trained Independent Consultants on staff, CHAMPS ODS exhibits expertise in the cancer registry process and at using and analyzing the data to produce information useful to healthcare professionals.

For more information on CHAMPS ODS, visit /www.CHAMPSODS.com

*  *  *