April 2001
Highlights for the month:
National Cancer Registrars Week
The Commission on Cancer congratulates cancer registrars as they celebrate National Cancer Registrars Week, April 9-13, 2001. Our organization recognizes the many contributions cancer registrars make within their facilities and on the national level. We are committed to hospital cancer registrars who form the nucleus of cancer programs and registrars in all fields who improve patient care by providing data on diagnosis, treatment, and patient outcomes. We also appreciate the continued support of registrars for a variety of CoC activities. The Commission thanks all of you for a job well done.
Highlights
ICD-O-3 Implementation Moves Forward
Just another reminder that the ICD-O-3 conversion tables and programs were posted to the SEER Web site on March 23, 2001. The CoC has notified software registry vendors, including hospital software developers on the CoC mailing list, about the release. The target date for vendor software upgrades for ICD-O-3 is July 1, 2001. Please refer to the NAACCR ICD-O-3 Implementation Plan that was distributed to all CoC-approved programs for details and answers to questions about ICD-O-3 implementation for cases diagnosed on or after January 1, 2001.
Highlights
COC and AJCC Sponsor Speakers at NCRA Conference
The Commission on Cancer and AJCC are pleased to sponsor the following speakers at the NCRA 27th Annual Education Conference in Orlando, May 24-26.
| Andrew Stewart, MA |
|
Current PCE |
| Susan DesHarnais, PhD |
|
Commission on Cancer and NCDB Update |
| A. Marilyn Leitch, MD, FACS |
|
The Role of the Liaison Physician |
| Frederick Greene, MD, FACS |
|
AJCC Staging: MD vs. Registrar |
| Jerri Linn Phillips, MA, CTR |
|
Gray Areas - Using "0" and "9" |
| Nancy Etzold, CTR |
|
Quality Improvement |
| Gayle Clutter, CTR |
|
Update on Collaborative Stage |
Highlights
Follow-Up not Required on Class of Case 6
The Commission wishes to acknowledge those approved programs that were proactive in implementing the standard to capture analytic cases designated Class of Case 6. Unfortunately, the follow-up requirement for these cases has presented a hardship for many programs. Therefore, while cases designated Class of Case 6 and collected prior to 2000 will remain analytic in the database, they will be excluded from the annual follow-up requirement. This change will enable programs to maintain the incidence data for Class 6 cases, but will not have a negative impact on follow-up.
Highlights
Basic Cancer Registry Training–October 2001
The CoC will offer a Basic Cancer Registry Training Workshop in its Chicago office October 22-26, 2001. Registration for the course will begin August 1. Information and course details will be available on our Web site just prior to the start of registration.
Highlights
Updated Information Available on AJCC Site
The AJCC has updated its Web page at http://www.cancerstaging.org. New information includes a listing of new members to the Founding, Sponsoring, and Liaison organizations and updated material on the AJCC's current initiatives. The initiatives section presents information on the Collaborative Stage Project which includes the collaborative stage general template, the colon data set, and the presentation schedule for 2001. Highlights of the AJCC Cancer Staging Manual, Sixth Edition and the 2001 AJCC Annual Meeting dates are also posted. If you have questions about the AJCC, please contact Susan Burkhardt at 312/202-5313 or sburkhardt@facs.org.
Highlights
To Subscribe to CoC Flash
CoC Flash is e-mailed automatically each month to individuals for whom the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons has an e-mail address. If you wish to continue to receive the newsletter on a monthly basis, you need do nothing. You can discontinue your subscription by writing to coc@facs.org and requesting that your name be deleted from the database. Individuals not currently receiving the newsletter may subscribe to the publication by sending an e-mail message to coc@facs.org and asking to be added to our electronic distribution database.
To Submit Information
CoC Flash will accept submissions received by the monthly deadlines stated below. However, the CoC reserves the right to decide whether or not the materials are appropriate for inclusion. Information for CoC Flash should be timely, news worthy, brief, and of use and interest to the constituents of the Commission, which include cancer registrars, liaison physicians, cancer committee chairs, and other cancer-oriented health care professionals. To submit material, send it to coc@facs.org.
The Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization dedicated to decreasing the morbidity and mortality caused by cancer through prevention, monitoring and reporting of care, standard-setting, and education. CoC Flash is a monthly news service for constituents of the CoC provided by the Commission and the Cancer Department of the American College of Surgeons.
Revised March 30, 2007
CoC Flash
Commission on Cancer
