Disease is very old and nothing about it has changed. It is we who change as we learn what was formerly imperceptible.
—Charcot
The advent of hospital-based cancer registries initiated in the 1920s created data repositories that have been utilized for patient treatment, clinical research, and epidemiological study. As newer modes of treatment have been introduced, it has been critically necessary to develop coding structures that have allowed for appropriate inclusion into local, state, regional, national, and international cancer registries. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spearheaded the development of cancer registries in every state, while the National Cancer Institute created the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program to enhance regional cancer reporting.
1 In the late 1980s, the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) was launched to serve as a repository for all cancer cases collected by hospitals accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer (CoC).
2 Currently, there are approximately 39 million cancer cases in the NCDB. …
