Louisiana Tumor Registry Wins National Award

First Place Data Quality Profile Award

  (Baton Rouge, La.) The Louisiana Tumor Registry (LTR) is one of four cancer registries in the National Cancer Institute’s SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results) Program to earn a 2011 First Place Data Quality Profile Award.  This is the second consecutive year LTR has earned a First Place Award and the third time overall. The LTR is comprised of the central office at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Public Health and eight regional offices, including the Baton Rouge Regional Tumor Registry (Region II), a division of Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center in Baton Rouge. There are a total of 17 SEER registries in the United States.   “The SEER Program is the most authoritative source of information on cancer incidence and survival in the United States,” said Nicole Magee, director, Baton Rouge Tumor Registry. “This award confirms the exceptionally high quality of data collection by the Louisiana Tumor Registry.” The primary function of a cancer registry is to collect data on newly diagnosed cancer cases in a population. Information collected includes demographic data, tumor type, stage of disease, and treatment. This data assists in health care decision making and formation of public policy. The SEER Program evaluates the quality of data from each registry every year. It collects cancer incidence and survival data from 17 population-based cancer registries in the United States and is considered the standard for quality among cancer registries around the world. “This honor not only recognizes the commitment to high quality of my staff here at the School of Public Health, but the dedicated efforts of the staffs of the regional registries and hospital registries throughout the state with whom we collaborate,” stated Dr. Vivien Chen, professor and director, LTR, LSU Health Sciences Center, New Orleans in an earlier press release. Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center is a regional cancer care organization that has been fighting cancer for more than 40 years. With five centers in Baton Rouge, Covington, Hammond, Houma and Gonzales, its service area encompasses 18 parishes across southeast Louisiana.