September 2023 Newsletter

Now that fall is upon us, cancer registry state meetings and regional conferences are gearing up for a full season of educational opportunities and interesting speakers.

ERS will be attending the following in-person events. Please be sure to stop by to learn what's new with ERS and CRStar.

• Ohio (OCRA) Annual Meeting - Sept. 21 & 22 in North Canton, OH
• Texas (TxTRA) Annual Conference - Sept. 25-27 in Lubbock, TX
• Alabama (ACRA) Annual Educational Conference - Oct. 5 & 6 in Mobile, AL
• South Carolina (SCCRA) Educational Conference - Oct. 5 & 6 in Spartanburg, SC
• Michigan (MiCRA) Annual Education Conference - Oct. 12 & 13 in Detroit, MI
• Tennessee (TODAA) Education Conference - Oct. 12 & 13 in Chattanooga, TN
• New York (NYCRA) Annual Educational Conference - Oct. 16 & 17 in Saratoga Springs, NY
• North Carolina (ANCCR) Annual Educational Conference - Oct. 23 & 24 in Wrightsville Beach, NC
• Indiana (ICRA) Fall Conference - Nov. 9 & 10 in Indianapolis, IN

And we're excited to report that several of our speakers from the ERS Speakers Bureau will be presenting topics at various meetings and conferences:

• Dr. Rick Greene will speak in-person at the Alabama and Michigan conferences as well as virtually for the California conferece in November.
• Melanie Rogan, CTR, will speak in person at the Tennessee and North Carolina meetings as well as virtually for the Alabama meeting.
• Amy Arnold, CTR, will present virtually at the Minnesota/Wisconsin Regional Conference in October.

One of the interesting themes in cancer treatment over the last few years has been “de-escalation” of traditional treatment strategies; in other words, eliminating certain types of treatment that may not be necessary to achieve a good outcome.

An example of this concept has been highlighted in the recent PROSPECT trial for rectal cancer. Pelvic radiation plus chemotherapy before surgery (neoadjuvant therapy) has been standard care for locally advanced rectal cancer. A randomized trial of neoadjuvant FOLFOX alone was compared with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiation in adults with clinical T2 node-positive, T3 node-negative, or T3 node-positive rectal cancer who were candidates for sphincter-sparing surgery.

At a median follow-up of 58 months, patients receiving FOLFOX alone had the same disease-free survival as patients receiving chemotherapy and radiation (80.8% in the FOLFOX group and 78.6% in the chemoradiotherapy group). This is just one example of ongoing trials that are aimed at eliminating certain treatment methods that hopefully will reduce both cost and adverse events, but have similar outcomes when unnecessary treatments are deleted.

Save the date for our upcoming educational webinar, Excel for Beginners: Cancer Registry Analytics. The 30 minute webinar, which has been approved for 0.50 credits from NCRA, will be presented by Amy Arnold, BA, CTR, Manager, Strategic Services at ERS on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023 and Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023.

The webinar will explain basic Excel navigation, familiarize participants with how to utilize basic Excel functionality and demonstrate examples of how to use Excel for registry manaement.

Invitations will be emailed to CRStar clients on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023.

In today's fast-paced business world, it is a sincere pleasure to recognize employees who have stayed with their employer-of-choice for 25 years. Please join us in congratulating Melanie Rogan who has achieved this impressive distinction!

Her 25 year tenure with this organization has greatly contributed to the success and growth of the company, as well as to the development and evolution of the product. Melanie has held several positions with the company over the years, most recently as Director of Growth and Strategic Services. She has supported, trained, educated and mentored many employees and clients during her time with ERS. Melanie has always had a passion for giving back to the cancer registry profession and has been an enthusiastic volunteer leader in both her state association and NCRA. 

Here's to another 25 years!

The latest episode of the Cancer Registry World podcast is available now! Guest Jim Hofferkamp, BA, CTR, NAACCR Program Manager of Education joins Dr. Frederick L. Greene to discuss the role of NAACCR as it pertains to hospital-based registries, their goals for future cancer registry education and how state registries determine what data is collected.

Previous episodes with guests Denise Harrison, Sharon Gentry, Kay Washington, Lori A. Swain, Loria A. Pollack, Shirley Dalrymple, Robert K. Brookland, Timothy W. Mullett, Catherine Bieker, Jon Patrick, Barbara Dearmon, 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, Amazon Music, Spotify, iHeartRadio and TuneIn.

ERS and Syapse work collaboratively to empower our partners in driving real impact and improving access to high-quality care by connecting comprehensive patient insights to the Syapse network. By marrying clinical expertise with smart technologies, data is transformed into evidence—and then into experience.



Would you like to learn more about how comprehensive patient insights could benefit your registry and save time and resources? Click below to schedule a call with Melanie Rogan, CTR, Director Growth and Strategic Services.

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!

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