Statewide Cancer Data

Statewide Cancer Data (SCD) is a two component SR that combines Rapid Case Ascertainment (RCA) and the Cancer Information and Population Health Resource (CIPHR). This resource reflects a commitment of the cancer center and of the CPC, CR, BC and CE Programs to support research in real-world populations – particularly in the state of North Carolina. A strong relationship between RCA and the North Carolina Central Cancer Registry (CCR), and the hospital tumor registrars allows RCA to facilitate population-based studies of cancer for Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and outside investigators. For rapid case ascertainment, the Central Cancer Registry utilizes RCA personnel, and proactively requests and obtains diagnostic information within one month of the patient’s diagnosis. The other component of this resource is CIPHR, which includes cancer case data from CCR linked to healthcare administrative claims data from Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance. The resulting claims dataset represents over 8 million individuals. Beneficiaries are reconciled across payers and linked to approximately 750,000 North Carolina cancer cases from the last decade. The size and complexity of the population-based datasets created and housed by this resource require an interdisciplinary staff to successfully and efficiently manage, analyze, and understand the data. SR staff apply innovative data management and analytic methods, many specifically created for CIPHR, to answer important population-based questions about the LCCC catchment area. Linkage of LCCC population-based cohorts has been accomplished. Researcher support from SCD typically extends from development of the initial research question, gathering preliminary data for grant applications through cohort discovery, statistical analysis, and manuscript writing. In FY2019, 37 LCCC members representing 93% of users used the SCD SR. This is a cost-effective mechanism to both collect cancer cases efficiently across the state and to disseminate that information. Since CIPHR began linking to Medicare data in 2012, it has been extensively used by faculty, trainees, and various collaborators both within UNC and at other cancer centers. To date, more than $15M in external funding has been enabled by this shared resource. The SCD requests $206,586 from the CCSG, which is 12% of the total FY20 $1.8 M operating budget, $900,000 of which is provided by the LCCC.