Registrars
Call for Data for 2012
Call for Data Letter from Dr. Pezzi (480K PDF)
The Commission on Cancer (CoC) voted in May of 2010 to make major changes in the NCDB data submission cycle. The former five-year submission cycle is being replaced by an annual submission of newly added and updated cases.
The change facilitates collection of abstract updates for treatment and outcome information within a year of the update, rather than up to five years after the change is recorded. The change in the submission cycle provides a longer time period following diagnosis to record delayed adjuvant treatment more completely. In addition, the new schedule also will make data available for use earlier than at present for generating Benchmark, Survival, and CP3R reports and Participant Use Files, as well as for other analytic uses.
Beginning in 2012, initial submissions will take place in January of each year, when reports will be collected for cases diagnosed during the calendar year ending a full year earlier (2010 diagnoses in 2012) and for other newly-abstracted and previously-reported cases from prior years that were updated since the prior Call for Data. Unchanged cases will no be longer reported. Cases diagnosed prior to the program’s Reference Data are not collected.
Submission Specifications (Standard 5.5)
Dates
Please do not create your final submission files any earlier than December 1, 2011, to ensure that all required cases and updates are properly captured.
- Submission window opens: January 1, 2012
- Final date for initial submissions: January 31, 2012 (midnight Central time)
- Corrections due: April 1, 2012 (midnight Central time)
Cases Required to be Submitted
NCDB recommends that registries use the registry software’s automated case selection, but they should be familiar with the selection requirements that follow.
- Analytic (Class of Case 00, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 20, 21, 22)
- Diagnosed on or after the program’s Reference Date (and not earlier than 1985)
- All cases meeting the above specifications diagnosed during 2010 PLUS
- All cases meeting the above specifications diagnosed through 2009 that were added or changed by the registry since just prior to the previous time the respective diagnosis year was selected in a Call for Data. See schedule (20K PDF).
- New programs that submitted only one year of data for accreditation during 2011: Please submit all analytic cases in January 2012 for any diagnosis years beginning with your Reference Date that you did not submit to NCDB in 2011.
Data Items Required and Layout Specifications
Only NAACCR layout versions 12.1 and 12.2 are accepted for submissions during 2012. Layout 12.1 corresponds to CS version 02.03; Layout 12.2 corresponds to CS version 02.04.
Download a pdf with the required data items and applicable layout specifications.
“Rejected cases” are not added to the NCDB database and are effectively “not submitted”. Required cases that are rejected must be corrected and resubmitted, regardless of diagnosis date. Nonanalytic cases, cases diagnosed prior to the program’s Reference Date and cases diagnosed prior to 1985 are not required and will be rejected; they should not be resubmitted.
Edit Requirements (Standard 5.6)
All cases diagnosed in 2003 through 2010 submitted at any time during 2012 are subject to Standard 5.6. Data quality problems affecting cases diagnosed from 2003 through 2010, inclusive, identified by NCDB must be corrected and the case resubmitted by April 1, 2012 for compliance with Standard 5.6. For eligibility for commendation, no cases diagnosed from 2003 through 2010 may have any edit errors at the time of initial submission.
The NCDB metafiles and links to download GenEDITS Plus for 2012 submissions are posted at http://www.facs.org/cancer/ncdb/edits.html. While NCDB supports using built-in registry software checks as a first step for pre-editing data, it is best to re-check using the free-standing GenEDITS Plus on all files after they have been extracted for submission to avoid unpleasant surprises.
Survey Implications for Standards 5.5 and 5.6
Surveys for Standards 5.5 and 5.6 (formerly Standards 3.6 and 3.7) evaluate submissions with deadlines that fell during the three calendar years prior to the year of the survey.
Additional Resources
Coding, editing and “how to” resources
FORDS and Other Registry Manuals
EDITS Software and Metafiles, Edits Documentation
Revised December 29, 2011