The California Tumor Registry: a summary report on the cancer experience in 36 hospitals.

The California Tumor Registry was started in 1947. It consists of case abstracts of medical records on neoplasm patients seen in 40 hospitals in California and now contains data on more than 159,000 cases, with 15,000 new cases being added each year. Follow-up reports are requested annually on each case not known to be dead. The Registry is designed to (1) promote the continuing care of the patient, (2) to evaluate cancer control methods, (3) to advance knowledge of the epidemiology of cancer, and (4) to suggest leads for laboratory and clinical research. From a series of 110,628 neoplasm cases reported to the California Tumor Registry in 1942-1954, data are presented on 76,499 cancer cases initially diagnosed in reporting hospitals. Histopathologic confirmation, age, sex, stage, treatment, follow-up, and survival of cancer patients are discussed. Use of the Registry information for analyzing cancer experience for epidemiological study and for evaluation of treatment methods are also described. The report is intended to illustrate the types of data that can be obtained from the California Tumor Registry. More comprehensive reports on specific aspects of cancer control will be forthcoming.