On October 4, members and guests of the Commission on Cancer (CoC) gathered for the fall meetings at the 2025 ACS Clinical Congress.
CoC Chair Laurie Kirstein, MD, FACS, welcomed members to the annual CoC plenary session, and reported on the results of the CoC elections, recognized outgoing committee members and leaders, and acknowledging the recipients of the annual State Chair and Cancer Liaison Physician Outstanding Achievement Awards.
Cancer Liaison Program Chair Maria Castaldi, MD, FACS, introduced the first-place recipients of the 2025 CoC Research Paper Competition. In the Clinical Research category, Jaspinder Sanghera, MBChB, iBSc, presented his research “Impact Of Fragmentation On Timely Receipt Of Guideline-Concordant Treatment In Foregut Cancer.” In the Basic Science category, Shravan Leonard-Murali, MD, presented his research “Prospective Histology And Mutation Agnostic Assessment Of Systemic Tumor Burden With Plasma Cell-free DNA Concentration In 1,000 Cancer Patients.”
Member Organization Steering Committee Chair Erica Fischer-Cartlidge, DNP, RN, AOCNS, EBP-C, moderated the CoC Member Organization Showcase, which included presentations from John T. Hamm, MD, FASCO, of the American Society of Clinical Oncology; Betty Roggenkamp, MSHC, of the Cancer Survivorship Provider Network; and Robert J. Lewandowski, MD, FSIR, of the Society of Interventional Radiology.
Past CoC Chair Timothy W. Mullett, MD, MBA, FACS, provided an update on the new smoking cessation standard, and Accreditation Committee Chair Aaron D. Bleznak, MD, MBA, FACS, FSSO, reviewed changes to existing standards. Quality Assurance and Data Committee Chair Clara Park, MD, FACS, presented updates to CoC Quality Measures, and Ingrid Lizarraga, MBBS, FACS, discussed progress on the CoC’s new rural development initiative.
CoC Releases Updated Accreditation Standards
The Commission on Cancer (CoC) released an updated version of its accreditation standards, Optimal Resources for Cancer Care (2020 Standards). Review the CoC Standards and the CoC Standards Changelog for complete information on these updates. A few of the most substantive updates are featured below.
New Updates to CoC Operative Standards 5.3–5.6
- Standards 5.3–5.6 have been updated to require an internal audit of compliance each calendar year, confirming 80% compliance with the technical requirements and synoptic operative reporting requirements of Standards 5.3–5.6.
- The internal audits must include 30 eligible operative reports for each standard and must be documented using the appropriate CoC Operative Standards Audit Template
- The CoC Operative Standards Audit Templates are forthcoming and will be accessible through the Quality Portal.
- If the internal audit demonstrates less than 80% compliance, an action plan must be developed, and the program must complete an additional audit six months later.
- The results of the internal audit and any action plans must be presented and discussed by the cancer committee and documented in the cancer committee meeting minutes.
- Programs must start performing internal audits in 2026.
- Starting in 2027, site visits will only evaluate the internal audit and, if applicable, action plans to determine compliance. During the site visit, for educational purposes, Site Reviewers will evaluate two operative reports per standard to confirm the audits are being performed correctly. The results of this review will not impact standards compliance as long as the internal audit/action plan requirements are met.
- Please note: These changes do not apply to Standards 5.7 and 5.8, and these changes do not impact site visits occurring during 2026.
As a reminder, the following previously announced changes are also reflected in the updated version of the CoC Standards:
Updates to Annual Reporting Requirements
- The requirements for standards requiring annual evaluation, review, and/or reporting have been updated and standardized.
- Please review this recent Cancer Program News article for more details.
Revised Standard 4.2: Oncology Nursing Credentials
Standard 4.8: Survivorship Program
- Standard 4.8 is updated to clarify that services must address the needs of patients who have completed their first course of treatment.
- Review this recent Cancer Program News article for more details.
New Standard 5.9: Smoking Cessation for Patients with Cancer
For more information on the CoC standards, Optimal Resources for Cancer Care (2020 Standards), visit the CoC website. Questions regarding the CoC accreditation standards should be submitted through the CAnswer Forum.
New CoC Smoking Cessation Standard Begins January 1
Standard 5.9: Smoking Cessation for Patients with Cancer will take effect beginning January 1, 2026. As a reminder, cancer committees must implement a process for patients with newly diagnosed cancer to be screened for current smoking. Patients who report current smoking must receive or be referred for smoking cessation treatment consistent with evidence-based guidelines.
Each calendar year, the cancer committee must conduct an internal audit to assess compliance with the standard. If the compliance threshold is not met, programs must develop and implement an action plan, with documentation in the cancer committee meeting minutes.
Further details regarding the required baseline and annual audits are outlined below:
- Starting January 1, 2026, programs are expected to have completed the protocol and initiated the process. An audit must be completed on a minimum of 20 patients with newly diagnosed cancer to establish baseline compliance. If the initial 20 medical records reviewed do not include 10 patients who currently smoke, additional medical records must be reviewed until at least 10 patients who currently smoke and their referral status are identified. If the required threshold is not met, no action plan is required.
- Starting January 1, 2027, programs are expected to demonstrate compliance with the standard. The annual audit on a minimum of 20 patients with newly diagnosed cancer must show that 90% are screened for current smoking status and 80% of active smokers are treated or referred. If one or both of these metrics are not met, the program must develop an action plan to achieve these targets and document the plan in their cancer committee meeting minutes.
Programs are not required to identify the compliance rate for all newly diagnosed cases; rather, compliance is based on a required minimum sample size as outlined in the standard. It is not necessary for the baseline or annual audit to identify a numerator and denominator for all newly diagnosed patients.
Review Standard 5.9: Smoking Cessation for Patients with Cancer in its entirety. Questions can be submitted to the CAnswer Forum. At 3:00 pm CT on October 28, the CoC will host the webinar CoC: Smoking Cessation Standard. Presenters will review the evidence for the standard and provide an overview of compliance requirements.
Complex Cancer Surgery Resource Is Available
The Commission on Cancer (CoC) is offering a new resource guide for hospitals performing complex cancer surgeries, such as esophageal, lung, liver, pancreatic, colon, and rectal cancer surgeries. This resource guide includes recommendations and best practices related to the development of a complex cancer surgery program within a CoC-accredited hospital.
The Complex Cancer Surgery Resource Guide is available to CoC-accredited programs within the Resources section of the Quality Portal.
The Commission on Cancer (CoC) encourages accredited cancer programs to promote lung cancer awareness and the importance of screening during November.
To help you promote Lung Cancer Awareness Month in your community, the CoC developed customizable posters that can be downloaded from the Marketing Resources section in QPort. The posters feature a CoC Surgical Quality Partners diamond and space for institutions to add their logo, which will allow programs an opportunity to promote their CoC accreditation and their commitment to educating the community on ways to reduce lung cancer risk.
Contact coc@facs.org with any questions.
