Cancer Programs News: September 4

Promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October

The Commission on Cancer (CoC) and National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC) encourage your site to promote breast cancer awareness and the importance of screening in October. To help you promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month within your community, the CoC and NAPBC developed customizable posters that can be downloaded from the Marketing Resources section in your site's QPort. The respective posters feature a CoC and NAPBC Surgical Quality Partners diamond and space for institutions to add their logo, allowing programs to promote their CoC and/or NAPBC accreditation and their commitment to educating the community on ways to reduce breast cancer risk. 

Contact CoC@facs.org or napbc@facs.org with any questions.

Sign Up for QI Coaching Calls

Would you like to discuss your program’s quality improvement (QI) initiative and obtain individual feedback on your QI questions? Join a small group of accredited programs and QI experts participating in upcoming coaching sessions to discuss feedback on current initiatives, ideas for future projects, and the QI tools that are available for your program.

To keep the calls small and conversational, we are registering approximately 20 people at a time, and your name will be kept on the list for future calls if a session fills up (approximately 1-2 sessions are held each month).

Complete this survey, and you will be sent a registration link. You can email questions or QI project ideas ahead of time to cancerqi@facs.org.

AJCC Presentations for NCRA Annual Conferences Are Now Available

Would you benefit from access to presentations from the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) and the National Cancer Registrars Association (NCRA) annual conferences? In collaboration with NCRA, this information is hosted on the AJCC website.

These AJCC presentations, originally offered at NCRA annual conferences, provide instruction on the AJCC staging system (both 8th Edition and Version 9), staging rules, common questions, and disease site specifics

Webinar for International Surgeons Highlights Operative Standards for Rectal Cancer

The Cancer Surgery Standards Program, in collaboration with the ACS International Relations Committee, will host the webinar Operative Standards for Rectal Cancer on Tuesday, September 16, at 5:00 pm CT. Panelists will discuss how the Operative Standards for Cancer Surgery manuals provide guidelines for the global surgical community that treat rectal cancer, and how they can access and use the standards in their practice.

NCDB Releases New Benchmark Report

The Hospital Comparison Benchmark Report, released by The Commission on Cancer (CoC) National Cancer Database (NCDB), is available on the Rapid Cancer Reporting System (RCRS) platform.   

The benchmark report provides an opportunity for hospitals to query their own quality data in real time, while potentially comparing this data to larger aggregates such as all CoC programs or programs within a state. The report features several predefined common queries to help new users become familiar with the updated interface and functionality of the report.   

The benchmark report is updated monthly in RCRS with all complete cases for the last 6 years across all disease sites.  Reports can be run for one, two, or three variables using a wide range of case, demographic, tumor characteristic, and treatment data, including days to first treatment. 

The legacy benchmark report and Site by Stage Report located in QPort will no longer be accessible. Site by Stage Report functionality has been merged into the benchmark report in RCRS and will no longer be a standalone report. 

Contact ncdb@facs.org with any questions or comments.

Register Today for Year 2 Lung NODES Call

Register today for the Commission on Cancer (CoC) Standard 5.8 Lung Nodal, Operative, Dissection, Evaluation, and Staging (NODES) Year 2  webinar on October 10, at noon CT. This national quality improvement initiative seeks to assist programs in identifying areas for improvement in compliance for CoC Standard 5.8, which is intended to improve the quality of care and outcomes for patients with lung cancer. Contact cancerqi@facs.org with any questions or comments.

NAPBC Announces Oncology Nursing Credentials Standard Update

The Commission on Cancer (CoC) recently announced updates to Standard 4.2: Oncology Nursing Credentials, which is an aligned standard with the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC). The following is how these changes will apply in NAPBC programs.

Effective January 1, 2026, NAPBC programs also accredited by the CoC are no longer required to demonstrate compliance with NAPBC Standard 4.2 and will not be required to adopt the recently revised requirements of CoC Standard 4.2. The CoC program must still demonstrate compliance with the revised CoC Standard 4.2 as outlined in the implementation timeline provided by the CoC.

Beginning January 1, 2026, NAPBC programs that are not also accredited by the CoC must begin implementing the recently revised requirements of CoC Standard 4.2.

• Review this recent Cancer Program News article for more details
• Learn more about the revised Standard 4.2

 Questions regarding Standard 4.2 for NAPBC programs should be submitted through the CAnswer Forum.

Join the AJCC Version 9 Protocol Webinar Series

The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) released several Version 9 protocols for disease sites. Register for these upcoming webinars to gain important information on the new staging:

• AJCC Webinar on the 9th Edition Tumor Lymph Node Metasis (TNM) for Lung Cancer: November 20, at 9:00 am CT
• AJCC Webinar on Nasopharynx: December 2, at 9:00 am CT
• AJCC Webinar on Mesothelioma: December 3, at 1:00 pm CT

Additional AJCC webinars will be scheduled on human papillomavirus-associated oropharynx and salivary glands.

Register for 2025 Cancer Programs On-Demand Webinars

Did you miss our recent webinars related to breast center accreditation, rectal cancer standards, or standards for cancer surgery? The recordings and slides for past webinars are available through the ACS learning management system. More information on the on-demand content and upcoming webinars is available on the Cancer Programs website.

Webinar Will Address Psychosocial Concerns in Breast Cancer Survivorship

Living Beyond Breast Cancer and Medlive are hosting a free webinar titled Patient-Centered Interventions to Manage Sexual Health and Early Menopause, on September 12 at 1:00 pm CT. 

Join Kristin Rojas, MD, FACOG, FACS; Jennifer Reese, PhD; and patient advocate Charlotte Safrit for a candid discussion on sexual health and Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause (GSM), common but often underrecognized concerns in breast cancer care. The presenters will provide practical, evidence-based strategies for managing GSM and intimacy. Participants will also hear both patient and provider perspectives on sexual health and survivorship, and take part in a live Q&A. Continuing Education credits are available.

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:

AdventHealth Palm Coast
Palm Coast, FL

AdvocateAurora Northern WI INCP
Two Rivers, WI

Anne Arundel Medical Center
Annapolis, MD

Centra Health
Lynchburg, VA

Ephraim McDowell Regional MC
Danville, KY

John D. Dingell VA Medical Center
Detroit, MI

Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center
Bangor, ME

Sanford USD Medical Center
Sioux Falls, SD

Stormont Vail Health
Topeka, KS

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:

Ascension St. Joseph's Chicago
Chicago, IL

The Breast Center at Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute
Tampa, FL

Centra Comprehensive Breast Programs
Lynchburg, VA

Independence Health System
Greensburg, PA

Jefferson Health - Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center-Sewell, NJ
Sewell, NJ

Mosaic Life Care- St. Joseph, Breast Care
Saint Joseph, MO

Tift Comprehensive Breast Center
Tifton, GA

Torrance Memorial Medical Center
Torrance, CA

Windsong Breast Care
Williamsville, NY

NAPRC Recognizes Accredited Sites

The ACS NAPRC 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 NAPRC accreditation:

Baylor University Medical Center
Dallas, TX

MultiCare Cancer Institute - Tacoma General Hospital
Tacoma, WA

Mark Your Calendars

September 16: Operative Standards for Rectal Cancer

September 18: NAPBC: Breast Screening: What Every Physician Needs to Know

October 4–7: ACS Clinical Congress 2025, Chicago, IL

October 21: NAPRC: QI for NAPRC Programs

October 28: CoC Smoking Cessation Standard

November 13: NAPBC: Auxiliary Surgical Management

November 18: NAPRC: Case Studies and Process Improvement: Promoting Success in NAPRC Programs

November 20: AJCC Webinar on the 9th Edition TNM for Lung

December 2: AJCC Webinar: Nasopharynx

December 3: AJCC Webinar: Mesothelioma

December 4: CoC: Understanding Lymphedema: Science, Screening, and Guidelines

December 9: CoC: Managing Lymphedema: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Treatment and Survivorship