SEER collects cancer incidence data from population-based cancer registries covering approximately 28 percent of the U.S. population. The SEER registries collect data on patient demographics, primary tumor site, tumor morphology, stage at diagnosis, and first course of treatment, and they follow up with patients for vital status.

How to Access SEER Data

SEER Research Data

SEER releases a standard set of research data every spring based on the previous November’s submission of data from the registries.  The SEER Research Data includes the fields and variables SEER has made available to the public with a signed SEER Data-Use Agreement form.

For access options and datasets included in the release, see Accessing the Data.

Number of Records in the SEER Research Data

The numbers provided in the table below are for the most recent SEER research data release and the previous release. Malignant and In Situ cases are defined using the SEER Behavior Recode for Analysis.

  All Cases * Malignant Cases Malignant +
In Situ Cases
1973-2015 Data (Nov 2017 Submission)** 10,050,814 9,099,524 9,776,139
1973-2014 Data (Nov 2016 Submission) 9,675,661 8,662,369 9,429,379
Increase from 2016 to 2017 Submission 375,153 437,155 346,760
Number of 2015 cases 494,185 426,462 470,399

* All Cases includes benign and borderline brain and CNS tumors, cases coded as no longer reportable in ICD-O-3 and as only malignant in ICD-O-3 or 2010+. See SEER Behavior Recode for more information.
** Cervix In Situ cases have been removed from the SEER Research Data starting with the November 2017 Submission.

Specialized Databases

There are additional fields that SEER collects and makes available through databases that are not part of the standard SEER Research Data files. SEER makes these available in specialized databases that can be accessed through the SEER*Stat software with additional approvals.

For more information, refer to the list of Specialized Databases.

SEER Database Details