Who is responsible for collecting information about cancer?
The Maryland Cancer Registry receives information from health care providers, hospitals, and other entities about cancer cases in Maryland. Hospitals, laboratories, radiation facilities, and physicians report cancer and benign central nervous system tumor data quarterly to the Registry. They have 6 months from the date of diagnosis to report a case. Once received, the reports that come in from various sources are “consolidated” into one tumor report. Cancer registration in the US is finalized in each state two years after the end of the diagnosis year. This helps to assure the quality and completeness of the data. Once the data are finalized, the Registry prepares summary statistics for the state. Information on tumor reporting requirements in Maryland can be found at http://www.fha.state.md.us/cancer/mcr_home.cfm. Reports on Cancer in Maryland can be found at http://www.fha.state.md.us/cancer/surv_data-reports.cfm.

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1. What did the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) find in their 2009 Public Health Assessment?
2. Who is responsible for collecting information about cancer?
3. What is a cancer “cluster?”
4. How are cancer cluster concerns investigated in Maryland?
5. What is the relationship between cancer and environmental exposures?
6. What are the cancer rates in Frederick?
7. What was the scope of the preliminary cancer cluster investigation by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH)?
8. Why was 2000 the earliest year of analysis in the preliminary report of the initial cancer cluster investigation?
9. What were the preliminary findings of the DHMH cancer data analysis?
10. Is the risk of non-cancer health conditions being assessed?
11. If significant excess cancers are found in a specific geographic area within the county, then what?
12. Who can I talk to for more information?