Cancer Data and Statistics

The Central Cancer Registry (CCR) collects, processes and analyzes data on all cancer cases diagnosed among North Carolina residents to inform the planning and evaluation of cancer control efforts. 

All health care providers are required by law to report cases to the CCR, but the primary data source is the hospitals of the state. The CCR supplements hospital data with reports from physicians who diagnose cases that are not seen in a hospital. Death certificates and pathology laboratory reports are used to help identify cases that are missed in the routine reporting. Duplicate reports are consolidated in the data editing process. This is primarily a cancer surveillance activity, monitoring the incidence of cancer among the various populations of the state.

Summary Data

Summary data are published on the SCHS website and in several periodic publications. The data are used by:

  • State and county health departments to target resources for health education and screening services
  • Researchers for investigations into the causes and treatment of cancers
  • Public health advocates for focusing attention on the risk and burden of cancer
  • CCR and other public health staff to educate the public and provide evaluations of geographic and behavioral risk
  • National organizations that pool the data for national estimates of cancer incidence. This includes the CDC's National Program of Cancer Registries and the North Carolina American Association of Central Cancer Registries. These data submissions are also used to evaluate the quality of the CCR data.

State Action Plans & Resources

Preview ImageDownload Link and Resource Description
North Carolina Comprehensive Cancer Control Action Plan: 2020-2025
Cancer in North Carolina: Data and Resource Guide

Burden Data from the NC Central Cancer Registry

Fact sheets for other cancers can be found on the NC Central Cancer Registry website.