The growth and maturation of the national cancer data base

• Published in: Cancer 1997-12, Vol.80 (12), p.2296-2304
• Main Authors: Menck, Herman R., Cunningham, Myles P., Jessup, J. Milburn, Eyre, Harmon J., Winchester, David P., Scott‐Conner, Carol E. H., Murphy, Gerald P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; American Cancer Society; American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer; Analysis. Health state; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Computerized, statistical medical data processing and models in biomedicine; Databases, Factual - statistics & numerical data; Epidemiology; Ethnic Groups; Female; General aspects; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Medical statistics; Middle Aged; National Cancer Data Base; national survey; Neoplasms - epidemiology; outcomes management; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Registries - statistics & numerical data; Societies, Medical; United States - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0008-543X; 1097-0142
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0142(19971215)80:12<2296::AID-CNCR11>3.0.CO;2-P

BACKGROUND The National Cancer Data Base (NCDB), a joint project of the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons and the American Cancer Society, is a cancer management and outcomes data base for health care organizations. It provides a comparative summary of patient care that is used by communities and participating hospitals for self‐assessment. The most current (1994) data are described here. METHODS Six calls for data have yielded a total of 4,580,000 cases for the years 1985‐1994. A total of 1735 hospital cancer registries have each participated in at least one of the calls for data. RESULTS Summing the last year's report from each of the 1227 hospitals that participated in 1994, the cases represent the equivalent of 57% of the estimated 1994 U.S. cancer cases. These data were received from all six regions of the country, including all 50 states. Ninety‐seven percent of patients received all or part of their treatment at the reporting hospital. The four most common cancers are carcinomas of the breast (15.7%), lung (14.3%), prostate (13.1%), and colon (7.7%), and collectively they comprise a majority of new cases. CONCLUSIONS The NCDB is a cancer management and outcomes data base for health care organizations that currently provides data on 57% of the estimated new cases in the U.S. Past data have been used extensively to assess patterns of care and outcomes. Cancer 1997; 80:2296‐304. © 1997 American Cancer Society. The National Cancer Data Base is a cancer management and outcomes data base for health care organizations that currently provides data on over one‐half of the estimated new cases in the U.S. Past data have been used extensively to assess patterns of care and outcomes.