Alaska Native Tumor Registry
Tracking cancer data to improve the health of Alaska Native people
What We Do
The Alaska Native Tumor Registry collects information on cancer diagnoses among Alaska Native peoples. Data is used to strengthen community health by supporting Tribes’ driven efforts in cancer prevention, screening, and treatment programs statewide.
The Alaska Native Tumor Registry is a full participating member of the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program.
Why the Alaska Native Tumor Registry Data Matters:
Cancer patterns among Alaska Native people differ from those seen in other U.S. populations. Alaska Native Tumor Registry data helps identify disparities and guide prevention strategies, aiming to improve health outcomes.
Alaska Native Tumor Registry Data Have Helped to:
- Lower age range for colorectal cancer screening to 40 for Alaska Native peoples
- Identify elevated rates of nasopharyngeal carcinoma
- Identify cost-effective prevention and screening efforts
- Support cancer prevention, detection, and treatment programs
- Inform national cancer research on cancer disparity and access to care in Alaska.
Protecting Privacy
The Alaska Native Tumor Registry operates in partnership with Tribal Health Organizations and follows Tribal data stewardship principles. The Registry follows strict data security, Tribal oversight, and review processes. Small data counts are suppressed to protect individuals and communities.
Publications
We are also committed to making cancer information available to our partners across Alaska, and nationwide. If you have specific questions that these data might be able to answer, please contact us. ANTR staff are also available to give presentations on cancer among Alaska Native people. Please contact us for further information.
Cancer in Alaska Native People:
55-Year Report
This 55-year report presents detailed information on cancer incidence and mortality among Alaska Native people by cancer site, sex, age, stage at diagnosis, and trends over time, with comparisons to U.S. White people. Cancer incidence data are also presented by Tribal Health Region in Alaska for leading cancer sites and trends.
Full Report (PDF 25 MB)
Sections: Data Summaries | Incidence – Top Sites | Incidence – By Age | Incidence – By Stage | Incidence Tables – All Sites | Incidence – Trends | Mortality – Top Sites | Mortality – By Age | Mortality Tables – All Sites | Mortality – Trends | Regional Incidence – Trends | Regional Incidence – Top Sites | Appendix
Cancer in Alaska Native People 1969-2018
This 50-year report shows detailed information on cancer incidence and mortality by site, gender and region. It also gives cancer trends over time compared to U.S. whites.
Cancer Among Alaska Native People: Executive Summary of the 50 Year Report
This brochure summarizes the information from the full 50 year report. It gives information on the leading cancers, how rates of these cancers vary throughout the state, and how they have changed over time.
Our History
The ANTR was founded in 1974 by Dr. Anne Lanier, in collaboration with colleagues from the National Cancer Institute, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Lanier and her colleagues noticed that Alaska Native people seemed to experience more of certain cancers than expected. They established the registry to understand the burden of cancer among Alaska Native people.
Since 1999, the ANTR has been a full member of the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program. Funding from the SEER program has allowed ANTR to continue its mission to collect high quality cancer data to understand and address the burden of cancer among Alaska Native people.
The ANTR has been collecting cancer data since 1974, with data from 1969 forward. This long history of cancer surveillance is a rich resource for understanding cancer among Alaska Native people.
The Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program
The SEER Program was established nationally in 1971 to collect, analyze, and disseminate data useful in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. The SEER Program collects cancer data on a routine basis from designated cancer registries across the U.S. Initially, nine registries were part of the SEER program. Today, there are twenty registries that report data to SEER. The SEER registries are considered to be among the most accurate and complete cancer registries in the world, and the SEER program is constantly looking for ways not only to ensure collection of high quality data, but also the right data to answer questions about cancer burden and control. This is particularly important as cancer care improves and our understanding of these diseases evolves.
Photo:
Elena Roik (Right), MD, PhD, MPH, Cancer Surveillance Director
Keri Miller (Left), MHA, BS, ODS, SEER Registry Manager