Data sources, collection, storage
Primary data sources for our hospital based registry are patient lists from oncology and radiation oncology clinics and histopathology reports- medical record number lists are generated on a weekly basis and cases are selected by the cancer registrars based on a set criteria. Data is entered into CNExT registry software which is built according to the American College of Surgeons (ACS) cancer program and Commission on Cancer(CoC) standards; unique hospital medical record number, demographic information for each patient, and details of the disease which includes histologic and morphologic diagnosis, and treatment from the time of diagnosis to the time each case is abstracted, are recorded using ICDO-3 (International Classification of Diseases for Oncology-3) codes and AJCC (American Joint Committee on Cancer) 8th edition staging system. Cases are abstracted a few months after the patient’s diagnosis, hence cancer management till then is recorded only and follow up for long term survival or relapse is not maintained at the moment. Quality of the registry data is maintained through monthly audits by the senior registrars and cross checking is done to increase the consistency of the database.