Cancer Registry at Phoenix Children's Hospital

The Cancer Registry at Phoenix Children’s Hospital is a systematic collection of information about patients who have been diagnosed with cancer, benign neurological brain and spinal cord tumors. The information collected is a summary of the patient’s history, diagnosis, staging, treatment and outcomes for a particular disease.  As required by the Arizona State Statue §36-133, all newly diagnosed cancer, benign neurological brain and spinal cord tumors are reported to the Arizona Cancer Registry.  Phoenix Children’s Hospital follows the collection standards from national trend setters and under the direction of the Arizona Cancer Registry. Confidentiality is always followed under the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 laws and guidelines.

Background on cancer registration

The first known systemic collection of information on cancer dates back in 1728 in London and the first hospital based cancer registry was at Yale, New Haven.  The Arizona Cancer Registry began collecting cancer case information in 1981.  Initially, reporting by hospitals was voluntary.  In 1992, the Arizona Cancer Registry mandated that all hospitals report under Arizona Revised Statue §36-133.  

Statistics on Phoenix Children’s Hospital cancer registry 

The most common type of children’s cancer are:  leukemia, brain, lymphoma and bone cancer.  The oldest patient in the registry was born in 1972.  Currently, there are over 2,700 cases in the PCH cancer registry. 

More information

At Phoenix Children’s Hospital, follow-up with our patients is an integral part of the data collection process for the cancer registry.  If you are a former patient and would like to contact us and tell us how you are doing, please call:

Susan Sullivan, CTR,

Oncology Data Manager

(602) 933-1498