Why are California Cancer Registry cancer data almost two years behind?
All cancer registries which publish high quality data have a substantial lag period before the data for a given year are complete. The California Cancer Registry (CCR) puts a high priority on reducing this lag period as much as possible without compromising data quality. A number of circumstances are involved in the delay before a cancer case is reported to the CCR. Complete information on the case and on the first course of treatment may not be available until six months after the initial diagnosis. Many cases are reported to the regional registries by multiple facilities or health care providers, and all the reports must be consolidated into a single record containing the best information available. Another factor is the increasing number of cancer patients who are diagnosed and treated in doctors’ offices without ever being admitted to a hospital; more effort is required to find these cases. In addition, the strict quality control procedures needed to produce complete and accurate d
