SEER currently supports research activities in a variety of areas:

  • Patterns of Care/Quality of Care Studies
    Research to evaluate the dissemination of cancer therapy into community practice; disseminate findings in scientific journals and professional meetings; and work to develop educational or training opportunities to improve the use of state-of-the-art cancer therapy in community practice.
  • Residual Tissue Repository Program
    This program was initiated to preserve pathology specimens associated with cancer cases in SEER registries that would otherwise be discarded, and to use these specimens to test hypotheses relevant to the population-based sample.
  • SEER-Linked Databases
    Each of these databases reflects the linkage of SEER data with one or more other large data sources.
  • SEER-Linked Virtual Tissue Repository (VTR) Program
    The Surveillance Research Program (SRP) is establishing an infrastructure for researchers and other requestors to obtain deidentified, but linked, tissue and data on cancer cases ascertained by the SEER Program cancer registries.

As part of the 30th Anniversary in 2003, SEER published the Historical Landmark StudiesIcon indicating linked file is archived content. describing SEER's many scientific contributions to epidemiologic research through a number of studies in surveillance, epidemiology, and end results.