About the Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry
Registry Organization & Funding Sources
Related Links
Information for Local Cancer Registrars
Frequently Asked Questions
 In June 2011, the Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry at CPIC was awarded Gold Standard Certification for its 2008 data by the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR). Cancer registries that meet the Gold Standard for Registry Certification have achieved the highest NAACCR standard for complete, accurate, and timely data to calculate standard incidence statistics for the year reviewed. The assessment is repeated annually and the recognition only pertains to a single year of data.
About the Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry
The Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry (GBACR) gathers information on all cancers diagnosed and treated in a nine-county area (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties), in compliance with California state law. The GBACR collects data from medical records provided by hospitals, doctors, and other medical facilities, and all the data are stored under secure conditions with strict regulations that protect confidentiality.
Information collected by the GBACR is used to understand cancer occurrence and survival in the Greater Bay Area. The registry includes information on cancer type, extent of disease, treatment and survival as well as basic demographic information like age, gender, and race/ethnicity. Because the population of the Greater Bay Area region includes persons of many different racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, the registry data give us opportunities to learn how such characteristics may be related to cancer causes, mortality, care and prevention.
In addition to its local use, information collected by the GBACR is part of other larger population-based registries that are critical to monitoring cancer occurrence throughout the state and the nation. Five counties in the GBACR (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo) have contributed data to the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program since its beginning in 1973; the other four counties joined SEER in 1992. All nine counties are also a part of the statewide California Cancer Registry (CCR), which was established by state law in 1988. The SEER program and the CCR provide essential information about cancer occurrence and survival in the United States and California, respectively.
|
 |
Registry Organization & Funding Sources
The GBACR consists of two components: (1) Registry Operations and (2) Surveillance Research. Registry Operations is responsible for collecting and managing the data, while Surveillance Research is responsible for conducting research using cancer registry data to examine patterns of cancer incidence and survival in the Greater Bay Area and throughout California.
The GBACR receives major funding from the National Cancer Institute, the California Department of Health Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for its operations. In addition, many research studies are conducted using GBACR data; these studies are funded primarily by the National Cancer Institute and state cancer research programs.
In 2010, the Cancer Prevention Institute of California won a $34 million seven-year contract to continue its work to collect cancer data, study cancer rates, and facilitate cancer research.
Related Links
Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER)
The SEER Program of the National Cancer Institute is the most authoritative source of information on cancer incidence and survival in the United States.
California Cancer Registry (CCR)
The CCR, California's population-based cancer surveillance system, collects information about all cancers diagnosed in the state.
North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR)
NAACCR is a collaborative umbrella and standard-setting organization for cancer registries, governmental agencies, professional associations, and private groups in North America interested in enhancing the quality and use of cancer registry data. Most central cancer registries in the United States and Canada are members.
|
