Cancer Programs News: May 15

Cancer Programs

Raise Awareness on National Cancer Survivors Day

The Commission on Cancer (CoC), National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), and National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer (NAPRC) encourage your site to promote National Cancer Survivors Day on June 1. This observance is an opportunity for all people living with a history of cancer to connect, celebrate milestones, and recognize those who have supported them along the way.

To help your accredited center promote this observance within your program and your community, ACS Cancer Programs has developed customizable posters that can be downloaded in your site’s Quality Portal (QPort).

Contact coc@facs.org, napbc@facs.org, or naprc@facs.org with any questions.

Rural North Carolina Hospital Bends the Trends on Cancer Care

Charles Shelton, MD, Medical Director of the 19-bed Outer Banks Health in Nags Head, North Carolina, and a member of the Commission on Cancer (CoC) Quality Improvement Committee, recently discussed the lessons his hospital learned from the CoC and National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC) accreditation process. Dr. Shelton said accreditation helped to streamline cancer care and boost patient volumes at his institution, by providing a framework for keeping cancer care in the community.

New Analysis of CoC Standard 5.8 Published

A new analysis of CoC accreditation site reviews from 2022 and 2023, recently published in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, examines early compliance with CoC Standard 5.8 for lung cancer lymph node sampling. The analysis was completed as part of the Assessing the Effectiveness and Significance of the Operative Standards Program (AESOP) grant (PI: Lesly Dossett, MD, FACS). The findings highlight the importance of continued efforts to enhance adherence to CoC Standard 5.8 and the opportunity to improve the quality of surgical lymph node evaluations.

For questions, contact aesop@facs.org.

Cancer Surgery Standards Program

Register Today for Technical Standards for Colon Cancer Webinar

The CSSP will host an educational webinar for surgeons on the technical standards for colon cancer surgery on Tuesday, June 3, at 5:00 pm CT. The Technical Standards for Colon Cancer Surgery webinar will review evidence-based operative standards for the performance of colon surgery as outlined in the Operative Standards for Cancer Surgery, Volume 1.

The speakers will present on abdominal exploration, extent of the mobilization, achieving a regional lymphadenectomy, managing multivisceral resection, and lymphadenectomy beyond the primary distribution as endorsed by the ACS Cancer Research Program and CSSP. The discussion will include insights into clinical management of colon cancer through case study review.

Surgeons attending the webinar will receive Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits. We encourage staff at CoC-accredited cancer programs to share this information with surgeons, trainees, and fellows with an interest in colon cancer surgery. Registration is required to attend this webinar.

For more information contact CSSP@facs.org.

Colon Cancer Webinar Recording is Now Available

On April 24, the CSSP and ACS International Relations Committee co-hosted the Operative Standards for Colon Cancer webinar. Thank you to the speakers and to everyone who was able to attend. We hope you gained valuable insights and a better understanding of the technical standards and techniques for colon cancer surgery.

The recording is now available on YouTube for those who were unable to attend the webinar or wish to view it again.

For more information about the CoC Operative Standards and the Operative Standards manuals, visit the links listed below.

Commission on Cancer

Consider Other Standards as a Data Source for QI Projects

There has been much discussion around how to identify the quality related problems a program can use to address the CoC quality improvement (QI) standard (Standard 7.3). Program staff may not be aware that they CAN use another CoC standard to develop a QI project. Often confused as "double dipping,” programs ARE permitted to use an existing standard that they have found challenging to inform their QI project.

National QI projects, including Lung NODES and Breaking Barriers, have used existing standards to both improve compliance with those standards and develop and execute a QI project for the year. Most any standard in which you can identify a problem, develop a solution, and measure numerical change over time can be used as a QI project.

When is it not appropriate to use another standard to inform a QI project? Program goals (for example, CoC Standard 7.4) and the QI standard cannot be used to inform each other. Why? Often goals are binary and do not need to be measured repeatedly over time to see change. With a goal, programs either achieve it, or they do not. With QI, program staff are addressing an area of concern and implementing measurable tests of change to indicate whether or not they are improving.

Want to discuss your QI project ideas further? Sign up for a QI coaching call. These interactive 45-minute small group calls, led by members of the CoC Cancer Quality Committee, are an opportunity for attendees to share their problem statement, ask questions about measurement strategy, and share ideas about future projects. When you complete the interest survey for a coaching call, you will receive a registration link once the next available session has been scheduled.

Reach out to cancerqi@facs.org for more information or with questions.

Last Chance to Nominate Outstanding CLP

The CoC has extended the nomination deadline for the annual Cancer Liaison Physician (CLP) Outstanding Performance Award program. To submit a nomination, complete this survey by May 19. For more information on eligibility criteria and the nomination process, visit the CoC website. Email mleeb@facs.org with any questions.

NAPRC

Join the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer (NAPRC) Webinar Series: The 2026 Standards

The NAPRC is hosting five webinars in 2025 about the new NAPRC Standards, Optimal Resources for Rectal Cancer Care (2026 Standards).

The webinars will feature an overview of the 2026 NAPRC Standards, available resources supporting the new standards, the NAPRC site visit process, and a deep dive into NAPRC Standard 7.2 and implementing quality improvement processes at an NAPRC-accredited program.

The webinar recordings and presentation slides will be available after each webinar. Attendees must register for each webinar separately, using the links below.

NAPRC Standards: Expectations for NAPRC-accredited Programs
- Tuesday, May 20, 3:00 pm CT
NAPRC: Tools and Resources
- Tuesday, July 15, 4:00 pm CT
NAPRC Site Visit Process: Success Using the New Standards
- Tuesday, August 19, 4:00 pm CT
NAPRC: QI for NAPRC Programs
- Tuesday, October 21, 4:00 pm CT
NAPRC: Case Studies and Process Improvement: Promoting Success in NAPRC Programs
- Tuesday, November 18, 2025, 4 pm CT

The webinar schedule and registration links are also available on the NAPRC website. Questions regarding the 2026 accreditation standards should be submitted through the CAnswer Forum.

Education

2025 ACS Cancer Conference and Workshop Recordings are Now Available

Recordings from the 2025 ACS Cancer Conference: Harnessing the Power of Collaboration and the NAPBC and NAPRC workshops in Phoenix, Arizona, are now available. If you prepaid for the recordings, you already have been enrolled in your select courses. Watch for a notice from the ACS Learning Management System that provides information on how to access the recordings.

During the NAPBC Workshop: Bringing the Standards to Life, program leaders and ACS staff provided an in-dept review of the requirements for the standards, shared implementation successes and challenges, and outlined best practices to prepare for a successful accreditation site visit. In the workshop New NAPRC Standards: Improving Care and Quality, presenters addressed the evidence for changes to rectal cancer care, outlined the content of the new and revised NAPRC standards, described changes to the current cancer program structure and processes, and reviewed the tools available to assist with implementation.

If you were unable to attend the workshops, register now and earn up to 4.25 Continuing Medical Education credits, 4.25 Continuing Nursing Education credits, and 4.25 Continuing Education credits for Oncology Data Specialists. All coursework must be completed and credits claimed by 11:59 pm CT on Wednesday, December 31, 2025.

For questions regarding the workshops and conference, contact CancerProgramsEvents@facs.org.

From the Field

Register Today for Advanced Breast Cancer Treatment Program

The American Cancer Society is offering a new Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) project, Improving Treatment of Advanced Breast Cancer. The seven one-hour sessions will meet once per month from May 15 through November 14, 2025. Participation is free and open to all interdisciplinary clinical care teams (including clinicians, physicians, nurses, navigators, and social workers), so please share this information with your teams. This activity will offer no-cost CNE credits. Register today.

Webinar will Focus on Enhanced Palliative Care Skills and Services

The American Cancer Society and Center to Advance Palliative Care are hosting a webinar at 1:00 pm ET on Wednesday, May 21, to support oncology teams in improving care for their patients through enhanced palliative care skills and services. The Enhancing Palliative Care in Oncology Program highlights the latest science, real-world implementation strategies, and success stories for integrating palliative care into oncology practices.

Congratulations

CoC Recognizes Accredited Sites

The ACS CoC recognizes the following cancer sites for demonstrating their commitment to providing high-quality, patient-centered cancer care to patients and the community by recently earning CoC reaccreditation:

AdvocateAurora Central WI INCP
Grafton, WI

CHI St. Alexius Health
Bismark, ND

City of Hope National Medical Center
Duarte, CA

Community Medical Centers
Clovis, CA

Floyd Medical Center
Rome, GA

Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute
Hartford, CT

Indiana University Health Arnett
Lafayette, IN

Inspira Medical Center Mullica Hill
Mullica Hill, NJ

Lima Memorial Health System
Lima, OH

MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital
Leonardtown, MD

Olympic Medical Center
Port Angeles, WA

PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center
Bellingham, WA

Saint Anthony's Hospital
St. Petersburg, FL

South Georgia Medical Center
Valdosta, GA

St. John's Regional Medical Center
Oxnard, CA

St. Joseph Medical Center
Reading, PA

Thibodaux Regional Medical Center
Thibodaux, LA

University of Chicago Medical Center
Chicago, IL

University of Maryland - Baltimore Washington Medical Center
Glen Burnie, MD

NAPBC Recognizes Accredited Sites

The ACS NAPBC recognizes the following breast sites for demonstrating their commitment to providing high-quality, patient-centered cancer care to patients and the community by recently earning NAPBC reaccreditation:

Baptist Health Louisville La Grange Breast Program
Louisville, KY

Boulder Community Health Breast Center
Boulder, CO

The Breast Program at White Plains Hospital
White Plains, NY

Methodist Hospital Breast Cancer Program
San Antonio, TX

OSF Saint Francis Medical Center
Peoria, IL

Sanford Health Edith Sanford Breast Center Fargo
Fargo, ND

UConn Health Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center
Farmington, CT

University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Breast Health Center
Birmingham, AL

NAPRC Recognizes Accredited Site

The ACS NAPRC recognizes the following cancer site for demonstrating its commitment to providing high-quality, patient-centered cancer care to patients and the community by recently earning NAPRC accreditation:

Memorial Hermann Memorial City
Houston, TX