Abstract
The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program is a clinical database,
funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which was created to collect cancer
incidence, prevalence, and survival data from U.S. cancer registries. By capturing
approximately 30% of the U.S. population, it serves as a powerful resource for researchers
focused on understanding the natural history of colorectal cancer and improvement
in patient care. The linked SEER-Medicare database is a robust database allowing investigators
to perform studies focusing on health disparities, quality of care, and cost of treatment
in oncologic disease. Since its infancy in the early 1970s, the database has been
utilized for thousands of studies resulting in novel publications that have shaped
our management of colorectal cancer among other malignancies.
Keywords
SEER - SEER-Medicare - outcomes research - colon cancer - rectal cancer
