October 2022 Newsletter

Save the date for our upcoming educational webinar, Productivity: Unraveling the Mystery. This one hour webinar will be presented by Amy Arnold, BA, CTR, Manager, Strategic Services at ERS.

The webinar is at 12 pm EST on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022 with an encore presentation at 12 pm EST on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022, and will discuss how to establish registry benchmarks for productivity, how to track productivity, and best practices for assisting staff struggling to meet productivity.

Invitations will be emailed to clients on Tuesday, November 1, 2022. This webinar has been approved for 1 CEU by NCRA.

The ERS website will have a fresh new look in a few days! The new site features information about all of our products and services, and as part of our ongoing mission to engage with our registry community, there is a section dedicated to CTRs!

We now have an Interact section which will contain Dr. Rick Greene's various initiatives such as his Clinical Corner articles, information about the ERS Advisory Board and the only podcast dedicated to cancer registrars, Cancer Registry World! This section will also include news and events, the ERS Monthly Newsletter, and other registry highlights such as the Cancer Center Showcase and the About You Series.

The CRStar Cancer Registry System and the new ERS Client Support Portal will continue to be easily accessible via the home page.

The new website will launch soon! Be sure to check us out!

Single cell sequencing is a powerful technology that uses a machine to separate thousands to millions of cells and sequence the genetic material of each cell independently. This increases the resolution of the cellular differences within a diverse population of cells, such as in a tumor.

As one example, in a recent study using single cell sequencing of 300,000 lung cancer cells, researchers evaluated the functional impact of a range of alterations in common cancer-causing genes such as TP53 and KRAS. By analyzing the resulting changes in the RNA levels, the researchers aim to better understand how different mutations in the two genes contribute to cancer development.

Other groups have sequenced RNA instead of DNA, which gives an accurate perspective on what a cell is doing functionally. These data can compare how RNA molecules are expressed in a tumor differently when compared to a healthy cell and this knowledge can help clinicians make decisions on treatment strategies.

In one study of HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma, researchers sequenced the RNA of both the tumor cells and the immune cells to understand how spatial interactions between these cell populations changed, which can lead to evasion of cancer cells from the immune system.

These are exciting findings that will one day be captured in the cancer registry!

The latest episode of the Cancer Registry World podcast featuring guest Barbara Dearmon, BS, CTR, Manager, Oncology Support Services and Cancer Registry Operations at Ascension St. Vincent's Healthcare in Jacksonville. FL, is available now! Barbara is a past NCRA President, NCRA mentor and currently serves as the NCRA Education Committee Chair. Barbara received the NCRA Distinguished Member Award in 2022 for her outstanding contributions to the cancer registry profession.

Previous episodes with guests Lejla Hadzikadic-Gusic, William Laffey, Rohit Nayak, Mellisa Wheeler, Lillie D. Shockney, and Karen Mason, are still available on our website or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, including ApplePodcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio and TuneIn.

As a testimony to our emphasis on continuous improvement, ERS is excited to announce CRStar's newest enhancement: AJCC Staging Manual On Demand!

CRStar users will now enjoy the convenience of immediate access to the AJCC Staging manual via a split screen display on the staging screen of the abstract. Taking efficiency to a new level, the manual display is site-specific to the case being abstracted and will always be up to date with the most current AJCC standards.

Cancer registry data is the hidden gem of the cancer program and data requests can be frequent from administrators, the cancer committee, clinicians and other oncology partners. Presenting meaningful data that is easy to understand is of utmost importance for a non-registry audience. October’s Tip of the Month focuses on some best practices for working with data requests and presenting data that will have an impact.

When working with non-registry colleagues, a data request form can be very valuable in clarifying and organizing the simplest to the more complex data requests. A data request form helps clarify the information needed and can actually guide the requestor to ask for the right data. The form will also give the registrar insight on how to best guide and direct the requestor for meaningful reports. These conversations can be useful to educate oncology partners about data usage and help promote the cancer registry!

Rule #1: Choose the right graph type or report for the data to be presented.

There are four basic graph types and reports and they are all used for different purposes:

• Bar or Column Graphs: These graph types are used for data comparisons for two or more data variables, such as an age-by-sex graph
• Line Graphs: Line graphs are used to show trends over time, such as a survival-by-stage graph
• Pie Graphs: Pie charts are only used to show parts of a whole for one data variable
• Tables: Tables can be extremely valuable when presenting large amounts of data in an organized fashion, but not highlighting specific points

Rule #2: Presentation Matters:

• Communicate the data clearly and make it understandable
• Do not mix chart types in a presentation
• Focus on helpful vs “pretty” data
• Avoid repeating information
• Use simple formatting and do not overwhelm with numbers

Rule #3: Using Color Correctly

• Rely on the data and not the color scheme to avoid distraction
• Avoid rainbow colors 
• Use colors on opposite sides of the color wheel or use shades of the same color
• Be consistent with your color scheme throughout the presentation

Do you love CRStar?

So do we and we are offering our loyal customers the chance to earn a $200 gift card when a Cancer Program that you refer becomes an ERS customer!

Please click "Refer CRStar" below if you know of any Cancer Programs that could benefit from CRStar and the advantages that CRStar users enjoy and rely on.

Let's grow our CRStar community together!

Terms and conditions can be found on the CRStar Referral Form.

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