SEER Statistics

The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) works to provide information on cancer statistics in an effort to reduce the burden of cancer among the U.S. population.

Cancer Stat Fact Sheets are a collection of statistical summaries for a number of common cancer types. They were developed to provide a quick overview of frequently requested cancer statistics.

To better understand the demographics of the U.S. population of cancer survivors, NCI's Office of Cancer Survivorship (OCS) and the Surveillance Research Program worked together to develop survivorship prevalence estimates based on the SEER registry database, which represents five states (Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, New Mexico, and Utah) and four standard metropolitan statistical areas (Detroit, Atlanta, San Francisco-Oakland, and Seattle-Puget Sound).

See cost of care or prevalence by cancer site, sex, age, and year under various assumptions. Cancer prevalence was estimated and projected by tumor site through 2020 using incidence and survival data from the SEER and population projections from the U.S. Census Bureau. Annualized net costs of care were estimated using Medicare claims linked to SEER data and adjusted to represent costs in 2010 US dollars.

The SEER-CAHPS data set is a resource for quality-of-care research based on a linkage between SEER cancer registry data and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Medicare Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) patient surveys. These data provide a rich opportunity for analyses of Medicare beneficiaries’ experiences with their care at various stages of the cancer care continuum.

The SEER-Medicaid database results from the linkage of two large population-based data sources: the SEER cancer registries data and the Medicaid enrollment files for beneficiaries. This site contains information on how to request the data.

The SEER-Medicare database results from the linkage of two large population-based data sources: the SEER cancer registries data and the Medicare enrollment and claims files for beneficiaries. This site contains information on how to request the data.

The SEER-Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (SEER-MHOS) linked database is designed to improve understanding of the health-related quality of life of cancer patients and survivors enrolled in Medicare Advantage health plans. The database contains clinical, quality-of-life, socioeconomic, demographic, and other information. SEER-MHOS is sponsored by NCI and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The SEER-MHOS data files became publicly available to external investigators in December 2010. This site contains information on how to obtain the data.