Software and Tools

Registry Plus™—Software Programs for Cancer Registries

Registry Plus™ is a suite of publicly available free software programs for collecting and processing cancer registry data. These software programs, compliant with national standards, are made available by CDC to implement the National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR), established by Public Law 102-515.

The Registry Plus suite—Abstract Plus, CRS Plus, Link Plus, Prep Plus, Web Plus, eMaRC Plus, Online Help, and Utility Programs—can be used separately or together for routine or special data collection.

NPCR–EDITS—Tools for Writing Portable Edits

NPCR–EDITS (Exchangeable-edits, Data-dictionary, and Information Translation Standard) tools improve data quality by standardizing the way data items are checked for validity. CDC developed the NPCR–EDITS tools to implement NPCR. They are provided for free distribution to the public health community, and can be built into interactive data collection systems to achieve real-time field-by-field editing during data entry. They can also be used in batch-editing processes for data already collected.

Cancer Staging

CDC has created software in the form of an application program interface (API) to help cancer registries collect data on stage of disease for cancers according to the TNM system of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC). Content from AJCC’s Cancer Staging Manual, 7^th edition, has been licensed for use in the API by NPCR registries. A version without the licensed content can be downloaded. For more information or to obtain the version with licensed content, contact cancerinfo@cdc.gov.

Data Security

All registries that submit data to NPCR should have a security policy that is specific to the needs of the registry and the organization in which the registry operates. This includes registries that are a part of a larger public health department, a university, or an institution that provides information technology support for several programs. The security policy of the organization in which the registry operates must meet or be modified to accommodate the specific concerns of the cancer registry.

Registry Plus Use by NPCR-Funded Registries

As of October 2012, about 96% of NPCR-funded cancer registries use at least one Registry Plus product, with more than half of those using two or more products.

Registry Plus products have become a common platform among many cancer registries, helping them meet NPCR's standards for electronic data exchange, and streamlining and automating registry operations.