Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry

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About the Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry

What is a cancer registry?
A cancer registry is a system that monitors cancer cases that have been diagnosed or treated in one institution or a specific geographic area. A cancer registry usually collects information from medical records provided by hospitals, doctors, and other care facilities. All information collected on cancer patients is stored under secure conditions that protect confidentiality. 

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Organization

The Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry (GBACR) consists of two components: (1) Registry Operations and (2) Surveillance Research. The Registry Operations Unit (ROU) is responsible for collecting and managing the data, while the Surveillance Research program is responsible for conducting research using cancer registry data and examining patterns of cancer incidence in the Greater Bay Area.

Surveillance Research Program

Researchers in the Surveillance Research program use data from the GBACR to better understand patterns of cancer occurrence in the Greater Bay Area. Their objectives are to:
1. Identify patterns of disease in the population;
2. Perform research studies of cancer causes and control using epidemiologic methods;
3. Publish cancer statistics regularly, in annual cancer incidence reports, monographs on selected topics, reports, and scientific papers.

This research has led to numerous publications and research studies.

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History

Population-based cancer reporting throughout the San Francisco Bay Area began in 1969 when the National Cancer Institute (NCI) selected Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties to participate in its Third National Cancer Survey. Subsequent reporting of cancer incidence data in the Bay Area was implemented by the NCI in 1973 through the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program, an ongoing cancer registry program in several states and metropolitan areas throughout the United States. The San Francisco Bay Area Registry was operated within the California Department of Health Services until 1982, when it moved to the Northern California Cancer Center.

In 1987, cancer reporting became mandatory throughout the state of California, as established by Assembly Bill 136. This legislation designated cancer as a reportable disease and created the statewide California Cancer Registry (CCR), which is organized under a regional structure composed of 10 registries. These constituent geographic reporting regions share information about cases diagnosed outside their region of residence in order to ensure complete reporting within each regional cancer registry. Statewide implementation of cancer incidence data reporting by the 10 regional cancer registries was effective as of January 1, 1988. The registries for the San Francisco Bay Area (San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin and San Mateo counties), designated as Region 8 of the CCR, and the Santa Clara Region (Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties), designated as Region 1 of the CCR, together are known as the Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry (GBACR). The map shown here identifies the counties included in the GBACR.

Each year, the GBACR processes approximately 44,000 reported cancer cases, which include about 29,000 newly diagnosed cases. Currently, the registry database contains information on approximately 600,000 total cases.

The Greater Bay Area population includes persons of diverse racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, providing a wealth of research opportunities to learn how such characteristics may be related to cancer causes, mortality, care and prevention.

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Related Links

Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER)
http://www-seer.ims.nci.nih.gov/
The SEER Program of the National Cancer Institute is the most authoritative source of information on cancer incidence and survival in the United States.

California Cancer Registry (CCR)
http://www.ccrcal.org/
The CCR, California's population-based cancer surveillance system, collects information about all cancers diagnosed in the state.

North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR)
http://www.naaccr.org/
NAACCR is a collaborative umbrella organization for cancer registries, governmental agencies, professional associations, and private groups in North America interested in enhancing the quality and use of cancer registry data. Most central cancer registries in the United States and Canada are members.

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