Notice: Function wp_enqueue_script was called incorrectly. Scripts and styles should not be registered or enqueued until the wp_enqueue_scripts, admin_enqueue_scripts, or login_enqueue_scripts hooks. This notice was triggered by the nfd_wpnavbar_setting handle. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 3.3.0.) in /home3/mwebb/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6078
cancer registry – Cancer Registrar

Tag: cancer registry

Choosing the RIGHT Metrics for Dashboards

Dashboards are effective tools to communicate data, but they can also be misleading or confusing if the wrong metrics are used. So, how do you choose the right metrics or indicators?

Here is a short article with 6 steps to help you get started. Click HERE.

NCRA 2023 Conference

The 49th Annual Educational Conference hosted by the National Cancer Registrars Association (NCRA) will be held May 7-10, 2023 in San Diego at the Town and Country Resort. This year’s event will be a hybrid venue, i.e., live attendance with access to live streaming and on-demand sessions after the conference. Virtual attendees will be able to attend the live sessions and present questions online during the Q&A.

The conference will feature important cancer registry topics focusing on current issues and trends in the cancer registry profession. Registrars can earn up to 20+ continuing education (CE) credits to use in maintaining their credentials.

Why should you attend?

  1. Live attendees can experience one of the largest networking events in the world for cancer registrars.
  2. Earn 20 CE units for credential maintenance.
  3. Get important updates from the standard-setters.
  4. Learn about the newest advances in cancer treatment and oncology healthcare.
  5. Hear updates from your peers and subject matter experts.
  6. Have access to the virtual sessions for up to 2 months after the event.

Click on any of the links below to access conference registration, hotel and session information:

  1. Registration Brochure
  2. Online Registration
  3. Hotel, Travel and Transportation Information for Attendees
  4. Exhibitor Information
  5. CTR Exam Prep Workshop
  6. Fundamentals of Abstracting Workshop
  7. Danielle Chufar Memorial Annual Scholarship
  8. Top Things to Do in San Diego

Come “Sailing Towards New Horizons” with your friends and cancer registry professional association in May. Looking forward to seeing you in San Diego!

Acting on Your Calling

How did you find your calling in life? Florence Nightingale knew at a very young age she was being called as a nurse. Her family was not supportive and felt it to be beneath her station in life as a debutante in a wealthy and privileged society. She volunteered to work in a hospital to explore her dream. But her family bullied and punished her every step of the way. Struggling to make the most important decision of her life, she wrote to Dr. Samuel G. Howe asking for advice. He responded by saying, “…if you have a vocation for that way of life, act up to your inspiration and you will find there is never anything unbecoming or unladylike in doing your duty for the good of others. Choose, go on with it, wherever it may lead you.”
#CTR #cancerregistry #cancerregistrar #cancer #purpose #inspiration

Cancer A to Z

There are over 300 different types of cancer. A cancer registrar is specially trained in how to correctly gather the data from the medical record and to code and classify it for research and strategic planning. From time to time they will come across a type of cancer they may not be as familiar with as compared to cancers like lung, colon, prostate, breast, etc. Having a resource like this one published by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is very helpful.

CoC Publishes Responses to NCRA Sessions Q&A

The American College of Surgeons (ACoS) presented several sessions at the National Cancer Registrar’s Association (NCRA) annual educational conference held on June 3-5, 2021. In response to the participant questions asked at each of these sessions, the ACoS has released a PDF with a written response to all the questions they received. You can view this document below.

Note: if you cannot see the PDF document, copy and paste this URL into your web browser: https://www.facs.org/-/media/files/quality-programs/cancer/ncra_meeting_qa.ashx.

ncra_meeting_qa

Survey – Imaging & cN Stage

Cancer staging is a fairly complex task and has many components and variables that cancer registrars must take into account. Let’s have some fun and test your knowledge about staging. To see survey results, scroll to the bottom of the post and click on “Statistics – View the Results” tab.

Please answer three questions in the short quiz below.

[perfect_survey id=”1325″]

What Are Cancer Statistics?

Cancer Registrars collect and analyze data to tell a story about the latest trends in their facility, region, state or nationally. Understanding how the statistics are derived and calculated, especially if you are going to compare your hospital with another program, state or national benchmark is very important.

SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results) has made available a series of online videos called Did You Know? The video’s highlight key topics and trends and are helpful in understanding cancer-related statistics.

Here is one of these videos, titled “Cancer Statistics.”

Cancer Statistics | Did You Know? | Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)

When is CLL in Remission?

When is chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in remission? What does it mean when the medical record states the CLL patient has a complete or partial remission? All great questions often heard around the table when cancer registrars get together.

CLL is the most common type of leukemia in the United States in American adults. Over 175,000 men and women are currently living with CLL, and many of them with a good quality of life. While a cure is not yet available there are a wide-range of effective treatments available today. For patients with slow-growing disease or who are in clinical remission, they may not even require active therapy. Of course, Cancer Registrars will be looking for all of this information and coding it appropriately in the case abstract.

Standard treatment for CLL is chemotherapy and radiation. However, newer treatments are being tested and made available to patients to help them achieve partial and complete remission for longer and longer periods of time. Newer therapies include:

  • Immunotherapy:
    • Drugs that work with the body’s immune system to attack the cancer cells similar to how it attacks other diseases.
  • Chemotherapy:
    • Treatment regiments combined with stem cell transplant are being used to kill the cancerous cells in the body and are then replaced with healthy cells via a stem cell transplant.
  • Targeted Drugs:
    • These new medications attack specific substances that help the cancer cells to grow and multiply and leave the healthy, non-malignant cells alone.

There are two types CLL remission which we will describe below:

  • Complete:
    • If the patient’s blood tests no longer show the presence of CLL and they do not have any symptoms, such as swelling in the lymph nodes or spleen, then CLL is considered to be in complete remission.
  • Partial:
    • If the patient is symptom-free (i.e., no swelling in lymph nodes) but there is still a small amount of CLL detected in their blood tests, then they are considered to be in partial remission.

Laboratory tests are an important part of the medical record that the Cancer Registrar must review. For CLL you should look at the following:

  • Blood Testing
    • Diagnosing CLL usually starts with a routine blood test called complete blood count, or CBC. A CBC measures a number of different types of cells in the sample. For example, a patient may have CLL if the blood contains too many white blood cells, or WBCs. The CBC also measures red blood cells (RBCs) and platelets. Low levels of RBCs is called anemia and low platelet count is called thrombocytopenia.
  • Flow Cytometry and Cytochemistry
    • For these tests chemicals or dyes may be applied to the blood sample in the laboratory to provide information about the type and subtype of leukemia. CLL has distinctive markers, called cell surface proteins, on the outside of the cell. The pattern of these markers is called immunophenotype and is used to distinguish CLL from other types of leukemia that also involve lymphocytes. Flow cytometry, also called immunophenotyping, is the most important test used to confirm a diagnosis of CLL.
  • Genomic and Molecular Testing
    • These tests look for specific genes, proteins, chromosome changes or other factors unique to leukemia. Because CLL cells divide very slowly, looking at chromosomes is often less useful than tests that find specific genetic mutations or changes. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (or FISH) assays and other genetic tests, such as polymerase chain reaction, are used to find genetic mutations. Some of the genetic changes that are found in CLL include (but are not limited to):
      • Deletion of the long arm of chromosome 13 [del(13q)], which is found in about half of all CLL patients,
      • An extra copy of chromosome 12 (trisomy 12),
      • del(11q),
      • del(17p),
      • NOTCH1 mutations,
      • SF3B1 mutations,
      • TP53 abnormalities,
      • MYD88 mutations, and
      • IGVH, which may be important whether it is changed or unchanged.
    • Genomic and molecular testing can be used to determine how quickly the disease will progress and to identify treatment therapies and options. For example, if a patient has del(17p) genetic mutation then they are more likely to have a leukemia that is difficult to treat and some may work better than others.
  • Imaging
    • It is common for CLL to be found in many different parts of the body, even if diagnosed early. Imaging tests are rarely used to diagnose CLL but they may be used before treatment is given to identify areas of involvement or to determine how well CLL is responding to treatment.
  • Bone Marrow Aspiration and Biopsy
    • Bone marrow biopsy is also not generally used to diagnose CLL, but it may be done before treatment starts. It is useful to help determine the prognosis or a patient’s chance of recovery.

CLL can be in remission for many years, but there is always a chance it could come back. It is not uncommon for a physician to recommend a “watch and wait” form of long-term surveillance. This is why it is so important for the Cancer Registrar to understand the disease process and to gather accurate and complete follow-up and cancer status information throughout the patient’s lifetime.

Cancer Registrar’s should consult the SEER hematologic coding and abstracting resources to determine other steps or actions taken during the case abstraction process, whether they are in a SEER-designated State or not.

Disclaimer – this article is not used to determine coding or abstracting standrds! Rather it is an informational guide to help the Registrar understand what they may find in the medical record. For coding or abstracting standards please refer to your apppropriate manuals.

Best Practice Series for Cancer Registrars

The National Cancer Registrar’s Association (NCRA) launched a new information series, titled “NCRA Best Practice Guidance Series” in April 2021. As the industry leader in cancer registry salary and workforce research, NCRA has teamed up with partner organizations to identify the needs, launch initiatives and coordinate studies that will promote outcomes. Much of this work has been designed to share national workload and time management data relevant for hospital- and central cancer registry based Registrars.

The NCRA Best Practice Guidance Series is the first of a series NCRA plans to release that will organize and deliver a structured set of information on a variety of cancer registry workforce procedures, management and activities to guide cancer registry operations and staffing needs.

The first resource to be launched in this series, titled “Why Your Staff are Your Top Resource When Considering Outsourcing Services in Support of the Cancer Registry” was released in April, 2021. Additional resources will be released as they become available.

To download the NCRA Best Practice Guidance Series: Why Your Staff Are Your Top Resource When Considering Outsourcing Services in Support of the Cancer Registry, click here to be redirected to the NCRA webpage.

7 Signs Your Cancer Registry is Performing Well

“The cancer registry network is a powerful resource in oncology healthcare. The connections and relationships with members of the cancer care team are a valuable source of knowledge and provide many opportunities for resource-sharing and growth. The cancer registry should never be maintained solely for the purpose of meeting minimum reporting requirements. Instead, it should be a vital part of the facility’s cancer delivery system and be in alignment with the strategic plan and mission.”

To read the rest of this article click here to be redirected to the MRA website. There is free bonus material available too!