Information for Registrars

Resources for Registrars

Cancer is designated as a reportable disease in the state of Utah (Cancer Reporting Rule, R384-100).

Reporting Cancer Cases to the Utah Cancer Registry

Cancer registrars perform a critical function for the Utah Cancer Registry (UCR) in reporting cancer case information. We depend on the information submitted by registrars to be timely and high quality which enables us to consolidate cancer case contents and report to national standard setters.

This page will provide hospital-based cancer registrars with information about:

  1. Data Standards
  2. Reportability
    • Information to Include in Abstracts
    • Guidelines for Submitting Abstracts
    • When Abstracts are Not Required
  3. Reporting 'History' of Cancer Only
  4. Data Edits and Metafile
  5. Follow-up
  6. UCR inquiry Form
  7. Helpful Links

Data Standards

The Utah Cancer Registry (UCR) participates in the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program, in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR), and is a member of the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR). UCR must follow SEER, NPCR, UCR, and NAACCR requirements for reportable cases and data collection. Facilities, registrars, and vendors are encouraged to refer to the official data standards of SEER, NPCR, UCR, and NAACCR to ensure complete compliance.

Reportability

Detailed information about which conditions are reportable is available on the Reportable Conditions page.

ICD-10-CM casefinding lists should be used to screen prospective cases and identify cancer cases for inclusion in the registry.

Information to Include in Abstracts

UCR collects SEER and NPCR reportable data items as well as Utah specific required Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) data items.

Guidelines for Submitting Abstracts

An abstract is required in the following situations:

  • Patient seen for diagnosis of cancer
  • Patient admitted for staging work-up
  • Patient seen for cancer directed treatment (any course of treatment
    Examples:

    Example 1: Patient admitted to reporting facility after being diagnosed elsewhere with breast cancer. Patient received cancer directed radiation treatment at reporting facility. Report to UCR.

    Example 2: Patient admitted to reporting facility for breast biopsy and pathology shows ductal adenocarcinoma. Patient was diagnosed at reporting facility but never returns for further workup or treatment. Report to UCR.

    Example 3: Patient recently diagnosed elsewhere by reportable scan, then admitted to reporting facility for a biopsy (of primary or metastatic site) to confirm the prior diagnosis. Report to UCR.

     

    TIMING

    Reportable cases are due to UCR within six months of the date of diagnosis or date first seen for the reportable condition. Please refer to Utah State Cancer Reporting Rule.

    • Initial hospital case reports containing patient identifiers and key diagnostic variables should be submitted within six months of diagnosis
    • Complete hospital case reports should be submitted no later than one year after the end of diagnosing year

    When Abstracts are Not Required

    An abstract is not required in the following situations:

    • patients seen only in consultation to provide a second opinion or to confirm treatment plan
    • patients with a ‘history’ of cancer only, not initially diagnosed at reporting facility and are not receiving cancer directed treatment at reporting facility
    • patients admitted with active disease, not initially diagnosed, no part of initial workup at reporting facility, and are not receiving cancer directed treatment at the reporting facility
      Examples:

      Example 1: Patient admitted to reporting facility for gallstone removal, chart mentions history of prostate cancer. Do not report to UCR as abstract.

      Example 2: Patient admitted to reporting facility for a consult of a recently diagnosed breast cancer, no diagnostic/staging workup or treatment at reporting facility. Do not report to UCR as abstract.

      Reporting 'History' of Cancer Only

      For patients who are admitted with ONLY a ‘history’ of cancer, do not submit abstracts for these patients. Please submit a listing of these patients to UCR.

      • This includes patients with a past history of cancer and patients with active disease who were not diagnosed, initially staged, or treated at the reporting facility.
      • If the cancer was previously abstracted and reported from your facility, it is not necessary to include the patient/cancer on the list.

      Please refer to the linked template for specific data items to include in the ‘history of’ list.

      Data Edits and Metafile

      1. To ensure completeness and accuracy of the required data items, UCR applies the latest version of data edits applicable to SEER, NPCR, and Utah-specific required variables on cases submitted to UCR. Submitted abstracts must pass edits before being accepted by UCR. UCR approved edit metafiles
        1. Combined V25A, Utah specific edits metafile, and Utah user-defined dictionary
        2. List of V25A edits required on abstracts submitted to UCR
        3. Previous metafiles, edits, and required data items
      2. NAACCR references
        1. NAACCR Standards Volume IV, Standard Data Edits
        2. NAACCR Implementation Guidelines

      Follow-up

      Hospital facilities shall submit annual follow-up to UCR within 13 months of the date the patient was last contacted by facility personnel. Please refer to Utah State Cancer Reporting Rule.

      UCR Inquiry Form for Utah Hospital Registrars

      UCR has implemented a web based communication tool for requests from hospital-based registrars.

      Please use this form to submit registry related questions to UCR which will be answered by UCR Oncology Data Specialists (ODS). A selection of helpful tips from our Q-Tips newsletter have been aggregated on our Monthly Quality Tips page.

      Helpful Links

      Contact Us

      Utah Cancer Registry

      250 East 200 South, Suite 1375
      Salt Lake City, UT 84111

      Phone: 801-581-8407
      Fax: 801-581-4560
      Email: ucr.info@hsc.utah.edu