Tumor registries abound, but there are few that successfully incorporate information age data management resources. This article describes the evolutionary process of designing, implementing, and maintaining a computer-based cancer patient information system for a medical school hospital. The primary requirement was that accurate information about the cancer experience at University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) be readily available. Since the tumor registry staff were not data processing professionals, this system had to use commonly available, well documented, readily maintained, and easily used data management resources. The UTMB registry, as documented by the marked increase in frequency and scope of use, demonstrates that a quality information resource can have a significant impact on hospital cancer programs and could serve as a prototype for other institutions having similar needs.
Cancer 51 ~556-1561, 1983.
N CANCER RESEARCH, responsibility for basic infor-
mation regarding incidence, treatment, and survival often resides in the hospital-based tumor registry. ' -I 3 Although the broad purpose of tumor registries is to optimize the quality of care of the cancer patient, a large fraction of all cancer incidence reports and research programs depend in some fashion on the success of the registry mechanism.*." This article reports the re-design and upgrade of the tumor registry at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) into an effective and accurate computer-based information resource routinely utilized by the entire cancer research community.
In this information era, marked by increasing information demands, and escalating personnel costs, it is a question of when, not if, computer-based registries will become the expected standard of practice. It has been estimated that 25% of the hospital cancer programs approved by the American College of Surgeons currently have a computer-based registry." To build a successful resource, institutions considering a computer-based registry need access to a spectrum of data processing expertise. The design considerations for the UTMB system may serve as one type of model for other organizations with a need for this kind of information resource.