NEVADA
Nevada Central Cancer Registry
A Comprehensive Analysis
of Cancer in Nevada
NATIONAL PROGRAM OF CANCER REGISTRIES
SUCCESS STORY
Public Health Problem: The Nevada State Health Division’s (NSHD) Nevada Central Cancer Registry (NCCR)
regularly receives requests for cancer-related information from other NSHD programs, researchers and
academia, healthcare providers, other state and local public health stakeholders and the general public. Although
the NCCR has regularly published cancer incidence
and mortality reports, those publications focused specifically on reporting of data. A more comprehensive,
analytical report was needed for cancer-related program
planning, as well as for public educational purposes.
Use of Surveillance: In October, 2012, the “Cancer in
Nevada” report was published. The report uses data from
2006-2008 and contains information on incidence, mortality and survival and the disparities for each according
to race-ethnicity, zip code, health insurance and geographic region (Nevada vs. United States, Nevada vs.
neighboring states and northwestern vs. southern regions
in Nevada), as well as an in-depth analysis on trends
and risk factors for select cancers, and for the first time,
a look at Nevadans receiving cancer care out-of-state.
Findings from the report include:
t Nevada women, especially Whites, rank
among the highest in morality rates for lung,
colorectal and liver cancers in the U.S.
t Lung cancer among Nevadan Hispanics is
about ½ that of non-Hispanic whites.
t Nevada has significantly higher incidence rates
for all cancers as compared to the neighboring states of Arizona, California and Utah.
t Survival rates for breast cancer are 10%
higher in the north than in the south.
t Southern Nevada has a higher incidence of cancer, more cancer deaths and lower screening
rates than Northern Nevada, yet 70% of all cancer cases occur in Southern Nevada.
t Ten percent (10%) of Nevadans
seek cancer care out-of-state.
Collaboration: The “Cancer in Nevada” report was
a collaborative effort and was researched, authored
and released by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas,
School of Community Health Sciences. The Nevada
State Health Division (NSHD) provided funding for
this report, as well as data from the NCCR. Input
was also provided from the NSHD’s Bureau of Child,
Family and Community Wellness, and the Office
of Public Health Informatics and Epidemiology.
Public Health Outcome: Shortly after the release of the
report, local television stations and newspapers throughout Nevada, as well as national outlets, such as the
Associated Press, reported on the results contained in the
report. The media coverage served as a great public information opportunity to disseminate this information to
Nevadans. Additionally, the main author gave interviews
to local television and print media. This report is also
available to the public on the NSHD’s website at http://
health.nv.gov/Cancer/2012/CancerinNevadaReport.pdf.
Staff from the NCCR, Office of Public Health
Informatics and Epidemiology, Comprehensive Cancer
Program, Breast and Cervical Cancer Program, Colorectal Cancer Program, and other chronic disase programs
meet on a monthly basis to go over data needs, new data
sources, and opportunities for collaboration. One key
product of those meetings was the creation of an Access
database built to allow for an interactive query system so
that staff from the various cancer-related programs can
specify certain criteria and immediately get data on cancer incidence and mortality. This allows users to query,
for example, a region of Nevada (north, south, rural),
gender, race/ethnicity, and primary site. This database
includes data for years 2000-2010 and provides program
staff with specific information that can be used to target
program planning, intervention and educational activities.
As a result of the great success of the “Cancer in Nevada” report, two additional reports are being
created by MPH interns during the summer of 2013.
The first report will use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to geographically analyze and
display the dispersion of cancer in Nevada. The second report will analyze the effect of body mass index
(BMI) on cancer diagnosis, progression, and outcome.