Cancer registrars are highly trained data specialists that capture a complete history, diagnosis, and treatment for every cancer patient. The data collected is valuable for research on prevention, screening, treatment, and overall survival for patients. According to the National Cancer Registrars Association, today there are only over 5,700 Certified Tumor Registrars (CTR) worldwide. With approx. 1.9 million new cancer cases a year, it’s easy to see…
Recent news has emerged on what looks to be a promising therapy for increasing outcomes and survival in patients with advanced stage melanoma: TIL (Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte) Therapy. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes are immune cells (made up of both B and T cells) that are found in solid tumors fighting the good fight, but in some patients these fighter cells can get overwhelmed by tumor cells. Enter experimental TIL…
This month’s CTR Coding Break topic is “The 2023 Overview of Changes”. 2023 is a big year for major changes to nearly all manuals utilized for the abstraction of cancer cases by State, CoC and/or SEER reporting facilities. In this presentation, we discuss the primary seven manuals: AJCC 9th Editions, Grade Manual, Solid Tumor Rules, ICD-O-3.2, STORE Manual, SSDI Manual and the SEER Program Coding and…
How to plan and prepare for weight loss surgery. It’s that time of year when millions of people make changes to better their health. For many, those changes include bariatric surgery. According to The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), there were 256,000 bariatric—or weight loss—surgeries performed in 2019. However, potential patients may be unaware that planning and preparing for weight loss surgery can…
