HSDM analyzes information from the reported records of new cancer cases and distributes statistical reports to government agencies and other requesting public and private organizations.  The data is used to plan, administer, and evaluate health and other programs.

HSDM receives the cancer data set from the New Hampshire State Cancer Registry (NHSCR).  The NHSCR currently collects reports from hospital registrars operating in all the large hospitals in New Hampshire.  Hospitals with relatively smaller caseloads of cancer (fewer than 100 cases per year) generally do not have their own cancer registry, and the NHSCR staff help these hospitals with their reporting duties.  The NHSCR also receives reports of cases from physician practices, free standing radiation oncology centers, out-of-state pathology laboratories, and other sources, as required by New Hampshire regulations.  In addition, the NHSCR also receives reports for cases diagnosed in other states who are New Hampshire residents at diagnosis, based on the agreements of information exchange with other states.  Cancer data is collected under the authority of RSA 141-B.

Cancer became a reportable disease in New Hampshire in 1985, and since 1986, the NHSCR has been charged with identifying all new cases of cancer occurring among New Hampshire residents.  The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has overall responsibility for the NHSCR, which it funds through a state contract.  The roles of cancer registries in cancer control are gathering information about cancer in a community, providing the data needed to elucidate the causes of the many different cancers, and evaluating the programs for controlling cancers.  In general, the activities involved in cancer control through the utilization of cancer registry data include:

1. assessment of cancer burden in the population;
2. the provision of data for epidemiological studies to investigate the risk factors associated with cancers;
3. the evaluation and planning of patient care services; and
4. the evaluation of early diagnosis and treatment programs.

The information collected in the NHSCR includes:

• Personal information on cancer patients including their age, sex, race, ethnicity, and residence, and
• Information on the patients primary tumor and treatment including date of diagnosis, method of detection, topography, morphology, behavior, clinical extent, staging, metastases, multiple primaries, laterality, and first course of treatment.

Cancer tends to develop over several years, and it often takes a significant amount of time to collect complete information on diagnosis, treatment, and outcome.  Cancer data are available 24 months after the close of the calendar year.  For example, data for 2010 will become available in January 2013.