Chats  

October 2016
    Vol 5 Issue 3
From the Editor  
 
Happy Fall! I think this is my favorite time of year when the mornings and evenings are crisp with a twinge of coolness just enough to make you think about wearing a jacket or sweater. It's welcome relief after some triple digit days of summer. 

CRGC staff are busy working on a variety of different projects - from preparing for our SEER submission due in early November to continuing the review of prostate PSA codes for diagnosis years 2004 -2009. You may remember that SEER was concerned about the validity of the PSA coding and asked each SEER Registry to review and if needed, correct the data. Once this range of diagnosis years is complete, all of our prostate PSA data from 2004 forward will have been reviewed and error free. 
 
Our research staff have also been very busy and we are happy to share two different articles each utilizing data collected by California registrars.

John Morgan, our epidemiologist for Regions 4, 5, 7, and 10, shares recent results of a population-based study of treatment of colorectal cancer that show some interesting findings.

Rosemary Cress, Director of Research, and Danielle Rodriguez, Epidemiologist for regions 2, 3, and 6, share a link to an article which appeared in the Redding Searchlight about the challenges of cancer treatment for patients living in rural parts of California. 

In case you wondered how timeliness of your data was calculated, Scott Riddle, System Support Manager, explains the fairly simple formula used by CRGC once your data has been received.

This is also the season for Breast Cancer Awareness Month so please make sure you and your loved ones get your mammogram scheduled and performed. 

Also a reminder that the CCRA 43rd Annual Education Conference, hosted by Northern CCRA will be held November 3-4 at the Embassy Suites Sacramento. We look forward to seeing you there!

We hope you find these articles informative. Thanks again for all you do to provide accurate, complete and timely cancer data!

Mignon
Why Collect Subsite of Origin for Colorectal Cancer that Already Metastasized?
John W. Morgan, DrPH, CPH 
CRGC Epidemiologist, Regions 4, 5, 7, and 10
Maheswari Senthil, MD, FACS
Associate Professor Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Director Peritoneal Surface Malignancy Program, Cancer Liaison Physician, Medical Informatics Liaison Physician


Colorectal cancers having origins in the cecum through the transverse colon (C18.0-C18.4) are classified as right-sided colon cancer, with those from the splenic flexure to the rectum (C18.5-C18.7, C19.9 and C20.9) classified as left-sided (Figure 1). Using this distinction, approximately 56% of colorectal cancers in California are classified as left-sided, with about 40% having origins in the right colon. The remaining 4% of colorectal cancers defy classification as either left or right (C18.8, C18.9 and C26.0).

When used in patients also receiving systemic chemotherapy, targeted biologic therapy using bevacizumab and cetuximab (BT) represents an additional mechanism that can target metastatic colorectal cancer by blocking development of blood vessels that nourish the growing cancer. Recent clinical trials have shown that BT administered to metastatic colorectal cancer patients can improve survival for some. While this news is promising, cancer treatment is seldom as simple as it first appears. Current evidence suggests that use of BT among metastatic colorectal cancer patients, who also received systemic chemotherapy, only improves survival among patients with left-sided colorectal cancer; there is little evidence of survival improvement among patients with right-sided cancer.

Article Using Registry Data Appears in Local North State Paper 

An article about the challenges of cancer treatment faced by patients living in rural areas of California appeared in the Redding Searchlight September 19th. Background information was provided by Rosemary Cress and Danielle Rodriguez, researchers at CRGC. The author, Elizabeth Zach, is a USC Center for Health Journalism Fellow.

CCR Timeliness Formula Explained
Scott Riddle
Systems Support Manager, CRGC
 
The California Cancer Registry (CCR) tracks Timeliness of reporting based on a relatively simple formula. The formula calculates the number of months between the Date of First Contact and the Date Received by the CCR or its designated entity (regional registry) regardless of the day of the month.
 
For the Cancer Registry of Greater California (CRGC), the Date Received is determined by the timestamp recorded when a New Case file was uploaded to our GoAnywhere Secure Website OR when a New Case file is directly uploaded to the CCR's database management system directly from a facility.
 
Here is a simple table showing different date combinations and the resulting number of months:

Date Received
Date First Contact
Months
Timeliness
06/01/2017
12/01/2016
6
On Time
06/01/2017
12/31/2016
6
On Time
06/15/2017
12/15/2016
6
On Time
06/30/2017
12/01/2016
6
On Time
06/30/2017
12/31/2016
6
On Time
07/01/2017
12/01/2016
7
Delinquent
07/31/2017
12/31/2016
7
Delinquent









  

Timeliness only applies to New Case records. It does not apply to Follow Up, Correction, Deletion, or Modified Record files.
 CCRA Annual Education Conference

The Northern-CCRA will be hosting the 43rd Annual CCRA Education Conference November 3-4, 2016 at the Embassy Suites Sacramento. 

 
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Cancer Registrar Feedback
If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for Chats contact Mignon Dryden at mdryden@crgc-cancer.org.
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Cancer Registry of Greater California
Public Health Institute
1825 Bell Street, Suite 102
Sacramento, California 95825