Welcome
Welcome to The Informer, the monthly essential newsletter for ODS-Cs and aspiring Cancer Registry professionals. Packed with specially curated educational opportunities, industry updates, and practical resources, our goal is to keep you informed and equipped to excel in this vital field. Don't miss an edition—scroll to the bottom of this page to sign up to receive The Informer directly to your inbox.
Education
New Pediatric Data Collection Training
The NAACCR Pediatric SSDI Working Group announced its release of the 5th on-demand training. This latest release is for collecting Non-Hodgkin and Hodgkin Lymphomas. The series is designed to support registrars in accurately collecting pediatric staging data elements for the new Pediatric Data Collection System (PDCS).
This training series and other helpful tools for pediatric data collection can be found on the NAACCR Pediatric Resources webpage.
NCCN Tumor Boards: New and Emerging Treatment Options for Non-Muscle-Invasive and Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer
NCCN’s July 27 live tumor board will be discussing recent approvals and clinical trial results continue to enhance the treatment landscape for patients with non–muscle-invasive and muscle-invasive bladder cancer. The learning objectives include:
- Discuss the new and emerging therapeutic options for patients with non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer and how they can be integrated into clinical practice.
- Describe the recent updates to the systemic therapy options for muscle-invasive bladder cancer as well as disease characteristics that may guide treatment choice.
- Review the results of recent clinical trials involving non–muscle-invasive and muscle-invasive bladder cancer and their potential impact on treatment planning.
The live event is scheduled for 2:00 PM ET. The recording will be available until October 15, 2026. NCRA allows for attendance at two tumor boards per certification cycle. For more information or to register, click here.
Cancer surveillance community announcements
New Cap on Total Non-NCRA Approved CEUs with Expanded Explanation
Beginning with CE cycle submissions due December 31, 2027, NCRA will limit the number of non NCRA approved continuing education credits that may be applied toward certification maintenance. A maximum of five non-NCRA-approved CE credits will be accepted per two-year CE cycle. This article offers further clarification on how the limit applies.
Category limits vs. the overall cap
NCRA's CE eligibility table lists individual limits for specific categories of non-NCRA-approved activities:
- Tumor boards or cancer conferences are limited to two CE credits per two-year cycle
- Non-NCRA-approved educational activities (which includes the NAACCR pediatric webinars) are limited to four CE credits per two-year cycle
These category limits exist independently of the overall cap noted at the top of the table: no more than 5 total non-NCRA-approved CE credits may be applied per two-year cycle, regardless of how those credits are distributed across categories. A registrar earning the maximum four credits from non-NCRA-approved educational activities plus the maximum two credits from tumor boards or conferences would total six, one credit over the overall cap. In that case, only five of the six credits could be applied.
Pediatric webinars are eligible
The NAACCR pediatric SSDI webinars qualify under "Non-NCRA-approved educational activities," provided they meet the standard eligibility criteria; they must be cancer registry-related and present material beyond the level required for ODS certification.
NAACCR's Pediatric on-demand trainings support registrars in accurately collecting pediatric staging data for the new Pediatric Data Collection System (PDCS); therefore, viewing four out of the total five current pediatric webinars would be accepted in a two-year re-certification cycle.
New CDC US Cancer Statistics Released
The CDC has published its latest United States Cancer Statistics (USCS) report, covering cancer diagnoses through 2023 and deaths through 2024. For the first time, this release includes complete county-level data for all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico, along with rural-urban comparisons.
Key findings:
- Rural counties saw higher cancer incidence than urban areas (467 vs. 451 cases per 100,000) from 2019–2023
- 1,941,540 new cancer cases were reported in 2023
- Cancer remained the second-leading cause of death in 2024, with 619,871 deaths
An updated Data Visualizations tool is also available for building custom trend graphs, maps, and tables.
NAACCR Cancer in North America (CiNA) Statistics Now Available
NAACCR has released an updated version of CiNA Statistics in CiNA*Explorer, timed alongside the CDC's latest USCS publication.
CiNA*Explorer is an interactive tool that gives users straightforward access to a broad set of NAACCR cancer statistics. Users can drill into detailed data for any NAACCR region or registry, filtering by cancer site, gender, race, calendar year, age, and stage.
This update provides core statistics covering the latest five-year period (2019–2023) for both the US and Canada, including rates broken down by age, race, and geography, along with US mortality figures.
A new feature in CiNA*Explorer this year allows users to calculate colorectal cancer rates either including or excluding the appendix. Additional statistics available include stage distribution, expanded sub-groups for sites associated with known risk factors, female breast cancer subtypes, esophageal subsites, lymphoma and leukemia subsites, and single-year delay rates.
QA knowledge challenge
Abstracting
Terminal ileum polyp biopsy: intramucosal well-diff neuroendocrine tumor. What morphology code is assigned?
- 8240/2
- 8240/3
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QA knowledge challenge answer:
2. 8240/3
Per SEER: NET should be coded /3. This is reportable as 8240/3.
Although SEER did not expand on their response to the question submitted to Ask a SEER Registrar, by definition, a well differentiated neuroendocrine tumor is invasive and assigned a /3 behavior code. When there is a discrepancy between in situ and invasive, we are instructed to code the invasive behavior.
Additional information:
- Summary Stage coding for small intestine indicates that “invasion of intramucosa, NOS” is assigned code 1 – localized.
- AJCC does not have a Tis category for small intestine NETs.
- Cancer PathCHART lists C17.2 and morphology code 8240/2 as unlikely.