Cancer Registry
The Cancer Registry is a cancer data management system designed to collect, organize and analyze data on patients with the diagnosis of a malignant disease (cancer). William Beaumont Army Medical Center has a Cancer Program fully approved by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, which dates back to 1954.
In 1992, President George Bush signed into law the National Cancer Registry Act, beginning what is now the National Program of Cancer Registries. The Department of Defense is an institutional member of C-Change, a non-profit organization that is composed of 150 national entities from all sectors of government, academia, and private enterprise. C-Change shares information; helps identify barriers, gaps, and opportunities related to its mission; seeks agreement on critical national priorities and supportive actions; and facilitates independent and collaborative efforts to achieve common goals. The shared goal of C-Change is to "Cut cancer deaths in half by implementing a long term and sustained national strategy that motivates U.S leaders and the public to take the steps necessary to prioritize and implement cancer risk reduction." Former President George H.W. Bush heads the organization and representatives include, among others, the Assistant Secretary of Defense of Health Affairs and the Directors of the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Cancer Society.
The purpose of the Cancer Registry is to provide accurate and complete cancer information while maintaining strict confidentiality of each patient. The Cancer Registry is the best means known to follow patients for life. The benefits of lifetime follow-up for tumor patients are two-fold.
- It ensures the patient of the best medical care by providing a means whereby the patient is reminded of the need for lifelong continuity of care.
- It provides our medical staff with data that will enable them to see the end-results of their diagnostic and therapeutic efforts. The data obtained is available for use in research, national statistics, and education. This allows modification of treatments if certain treatments are found to be outdated or ineffective and implementation of newly discovered treatments.
In essence, it means a staff of qualified doctors and nurses planning every step of your cancer treatment and allows us, as health care professionals, to give our best known means of treatment for your condition.