Northeast Regional Cancer Institute Releases Latest Report on Cancer

The Northeast Regional Cancer Institute, a community-based nonprofit organization, is pleased to present this
report on cancer incidence and mortality in Northeastern Pennsylvania. For over 30 years, the Cancer Institute
has worked to ease the burden of cancer by focusing on the areas of community & patient services and
survivorship. The Cancer Institute invests 100% of its resources in this region.

The Cancer Surveillance Program at the Cancer Institute compiled this report using data from the
organization’s Regional Cancer Registry, the Bureau of Health Statistics and Research of the Pennsylvania
Department of Health, and the National Cancer Institute Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)
Program. This report describes cancer incidence and mortality in Northeastern Pennsylvania relative to the
United States for the 23 most common cancer sites. For the purpose of this report, Northeastern Pennsylvania is
defined as the six counties of Lackawanna, Luzerne, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming. Data from the
SEER program were taken as representative of incidence and mortality rates for the United States as a whole.

In April 2023, the SEER Program reported effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on cancer incidence statistics for
the year 2020. Reported incidence was down in April and May but returned to pre-Covid levels by June 2020.
As a result, reported cancer incidence rates for 2020 were lower than expected based on 2019 and earlier
data. The deficit in incidence varied by cancer site, but for all sites combined was approximately 9.3%. An
examination of cancer incidence data for Northeastern Pennsylvania showed a similar drop in cancer cases
reported in April and May of 2020, resulting in a 6.3% decrease in incidence for the year as a whole. Because of
the small difference between SEER and Northeastern Pennsylvania in the covid-related drop in incidence and
the Standardized Incidence Ratios (SIRs) in this report are based on data for a five-year period (2016-2020), any
effects of Covid-19 on the calculated SIRs are expected to be quite small. Consequently, no adjustments were
made to account for the possible effects of Covid-19 on the SIRs presented here.

The Northeast Regional Cancer Institute uses these cancer surveillance data to focus the organization’s
community and patient services to have the greatest possible impact. Similarly, they hope that the information
contained in this report is helpful in support of patients at risk of or diagnosed with cancer and their
loved ones.