Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Patterns of Care/Quality of Care Diagnosis Year 2009

The objectives of the SEER Patterns of Care Study are to: 1) describe the use of adjuvant therapy, which will be verified with the treating physician, in a community setting; 2) characterize the practice patterns in different communities; 3) describe more completely the use of surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and hormonal therapy in the treatment of specific cancers;4) describe the use of biomarkers in specific cancer types; 5) compare the patterns of treatment for cancer over time and by age and race/ethnicity; 6) describe the effect of co-morbid conditions on treatment; 7) describe treatment by hospital characteristics: i.e. for profit vs. not for profit, teaching vs. non-teaching, physician specialty, etc., 8) address quality control issues related to routine data abstraction; and 9) provide additional data for analyses by linking POC data to SEER-Medicare files.