About SEER
The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute is an authoritative source of information on cancer incidence and survival in the United States. SEER began collecting data on cases on January 1, 1973, in the states of Connecticut, Iowa, New Mexico, Utah, and Hawaii and the metropolitan areas of Detroit and San Francisco-Oakland. In 1974-1975, the metropolitan area of Atlanta and the 13-county Seattle-Puget Sound area were added. In 1978, 10 predominantly black rural counties in Georgia were added, followed in 1980 by the addition of American Indians residing in Arizona. Three additional geographic areas participated in the SEER program prior to 1990: New Orleans, Louisiana (1974-1977, rejoined 2001); New Jersey (1979-1989, rejoined 2001); and Puerto Rico (1973-1989). The National Cancer Institute also funds a cancer registry that, with technical assistance from SEER, collects information on cancer cases among Alaska Native populations residing in Alaska. In 1992, the SEER Program was expanded to increase coverage of minority populations, especially Hispanics, by adding Los Angeles County and four counties in the San Jose-Monterey area south of San Francisco. In 2001, the SEER Program expanded coverage to include Kentucky and Greater California; in addition, New Jersey and Louisiana once again became participants.
The SEER Program currently collects and publishes cancer incidence and survival data from 14 population-based cancer registries and three supplemental registries covering approximately 26 percent of the US population. Information on more than 3 million in situ and invasive cancer cases is included in the SEER database, and approximately 170,000 new cases are added each year within the SEER coverage areas. The SEER Registries routinely collect data on patient demographics, primary tumor site, morphology, stage at diagnosis, first course of treatment, and follow-up for vital status. The SEER Program is the only comprehensive source of population-based information in the United States that includes stage of cancer at the time of diagnosis and survival rates within each stage. The mortality data reported by SEER are provided by the National Center for Health Statistics.
For the expansion registries (Kentucky, Greater California, New Jersey, and Lousiana), NCI funds are combined with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through the National Program of Cancer Registries as well as funding from the states. NCI staff work with the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries to guide all state registries to achieve data content and compatibility acceptable for pooling data and improving national estimates. The SEER team is developing computer applications to unify cancer registration systems and to analyze and disseminate population-based data. Use of surveillance data for research is being improved through Web-based access to the data and analytic tools, and linking with other national data sources. For example, a new Web-based tool for public health officials and policy makers, State Cancer Profiles, provides a user-friendly interface for finding cancer statistics for specific states and counties.
The SEER Program is considered the standard for quality among cancer registries around the world. Quality control has been an integral part of SEER since its inception. Every year, studies are conducted in SEER areas to evaluate the quality and completeness of the data being reported.
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Surveillance Research Program
Division of Cancer Control &
