In 1997, with the support and funding of the National Cancer Institute, the Cherokee Nation developed an infrastructure for collecting cancer data, and recruited the necessary staff to support this development. The target population for this registry includes all American Indians residing in the fourteen-county CNTJSA in the state of Oklahoma who are self reported American Indians.
The ultimate goal of this registry is the establishment of a population-based cancer registry for the Cherokee Nation that will meet the standards of the National Cancer Institutes (NCI’s) Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program in case finding, patient follow-up, data processing, data reporting and quality assurance.
Memorandums of Agreements
A previously initiated and currently updated contract (Memorandum of Agreement) with the Oklahoma Central Cancer Registry (OCRA) enabled both registries to collaborate and share needed data.The registry staff has initiated Memorandums of Agreement with other hospitals in the state of Oklahoma, and is currently looking to establish agreements with hospitals surrounding the state of Oklahoma as well; as many patients travel outside of Oklahoma for cancer care. Other agreements with Tribal organizations are currently being initiated.