SEER*Explorer Help

Using SEER*Explorer

Quick Start Guide

The following steps provide an overview on how to use the SEER*Explorer application.

1. Select a cancer site using the Get Started with a Cancer Site dropdown list.
   • Select from the list or in the first field of the list begin typing a cancer site name to see the available sites that match your term.
   • The selection of cancer sites determines the data available. For example, Thyroid: Papillary subtype only has three types of data available; SEER Incidence, Survival and Prevalence. Other cancer sites have up to five data types available.
   • If you would like to compare multiple cancer sites on the same graph, select the Compare Cancer Sites option.
2. Select a data type using the Choose a Statistic to Explore dropdown list.
   • The data types in the dropdown list depend on the availability of the data for the cancer site selected.
   • The data type you select also determines the type of graphs available. For example SEER Incidence allows you to select Recent Trends, Recent Rates, Long-Term Trends, and Rates by Age; while Prevalence allows you to select Complete and Limited Duration.
3. Select a graph type from those available by clicking on the tab.
   • Some graphs are line graphs while others are bar graphs depending on which is more appropriate to your selection.
   • You can move from the Graph tab to the Data Table tab to see specific numbers.
   • The graph and data table will automatically update as you make selections.
4. Select a Compare By variable tab.
   • The variable tab opens with the primary variable (the Compare By variable) at the top.
   • You can select Sex, Race/Ethnicity, Age, or Stage at Diagnosis to compare by.
   • Multiple variable values can be selected for the primary variable. For example, when comparing by gender you can select one or more of the choices which are Both Sexes (combined), Female, and Male.
5. Sex, Race/Ethnicity, Age, Stage at Diagnosis
   • The variables not selected as the variable to Compare By are secondary variables.
   • Select values for the secondary variables by clicking on the plus sign to open the dropdown lists and selecting a radio button next to value you want to use.
   • The secondary variables can only have one value at a time.

Interface Details

More Options

Available Statistics

SEER Incidence and U.S. Mortality

SEER Incidence is the number of new cases of the specific cancer site/type per 100,000 people in the U.S. Number of new cases per number of people in a population are also referred to as incidence rates.

Cancer Mortality is the number of deaths caused by a specific cancer site/type per 100,000 people in the U.S. Number of deaths per number of people in a population are also referred to as mortality rates.

• Recent Trends

  Recent trends present the observed (points) and predicted (lines) annual age-adjusted rates and corresponding annual percent change (APC) trend for each joinpoint segment in the table. Predicted are estimated using the joinpoint software. Recent trends are available from 2000 through the current year of available data.

• Recent Rates

  Recent rates present the age-adjusted rate for the aggregated five most recent years of the available data, in a bar chart format.

• Long-Term Trends

  Long-term trends present the annual age-adjusted observed (points) and predicted (lines) rates and corresponding annual percent change (APC) trend for each joinpoint segment in the table. Predicted are estimated using the joinpoint software. Long-term trends are available from 1975 through the current year of available data.

• Rates by Age

  Rates by age refer to a rate for a specified age group for the most recent 5-year time period. SEER provides data for 19 separate age groups. Rates by age are also referred to as age-specific rates.

• Stage Distribution (Incidence Only)

  Stage distributions show the distribution of incidence cases by stage at diagnosis (Localized, Regional, Distant, or Unstaged).

• Median Age

  The median age at diagnosis/death is the age at which half of all reported cases were older and half were younger.

Survival

Relative survival is an estimate of the percentage of patients who would be expected to survive the effects of their cancer. It excludes the risk of dying from other causes. Relative Survival statistics compare the survival of patients diagnosed with cancer with the survival of people in the general population who are the same age, race, and sex and who have not been diagnosed with cancer.

• Recent Trends

  Recent trends present observed (points) and predicted (lines) relative survival by time since diagnosis (one year, three years, five years) and corresponding trend shown in the table. The trend measure is the average absolute change in relative survival (AACS) by diagnosis year. The values represent the difference in the percent surviving from one calendar year at diagnosis to the previous. For example, an AACS=1.0 represents that on average survival for patients diagnosed in a calendar year is higher 1% survival points compared to patients diagnosed in the previous year. The recent trends for survival are available from 2000 through the current year of data and are available by Survival Time (one year, three years, five years).

• 5-year Survival

  5-year relative survival rates show the estimated percentage of patients who would be expected to survive the effects of their cancer five years or more after cancer diagnosis. It excludes the risk of dying from other. Patients diagnosed over a seven year period are included to allow enough follow-up time for an accurate measure of 5-year survival.

• By Time Since Diagnosis

  Survival by time since diagnosis provides a view of the percentage of people surviving by year after diagnosis up to ten years.

Prevalence

Cancer Prevalence is the number or percent of people alive on a certain date who have been diagnosed with cancer. In Prevalence we show complete prevalence (people alive ever diagnosed with cancer) and limited-duration prevalence (people diagnosed in the x years prior to the prevalence date).

• Complete

  Complete prevalence represents the proportion of people alive on a certain day who previously had a diagnosis of the disease, regardless of how long ago the diagnosis was, or whether the patient is still under treatment or is considered cured. Complete prevalence is presented as U.S. counts or percent for all races combined by age and sex.

• Limited Duration

  Limited-duration prevalence represents the proportion of people alive on a certain day who had a diagnosis of the disease within the past 25 years. Limited duration prevalence is presented as U.S. counts, or age-adjusted percent of the U.S. population by age, sex, race and time since diagnosis.

Risk of Developing/Dying

Lifetime risk is usually given as the likelihood that a person who is free of a certain type of cancer will develop or die from that type of cancer during his or her lifetime.

• Risk Intervals

  The risk intervals present the risk of developing or dying from cancer for those born cancer-free. The last point in the series is the Remaining Life and represents the lifetime risk from birth, using the expected number of years of the U.S. population in xxx to xxx.

• Risk Comparisons

  Lifetime risk estimates are presented as bar charts by the Type of Risk, Sex, Race/Ethnicity, Starting Age, and the length of the interval to examine. The risk estimates for these available groups can be compared individually or against another group.

Definitions

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I do cross-comparisons of multiple characteristics, for example Race and Sex?
   For certain statistics including recent trends in incidence and mortality rates, 5-year survival, prevalence estimates, and cancer risk comparisons, you can compare multiple characteristics. When the option is available, use the "Additional Comparison" drop down menu in the Compare By section to compare options such as Race/Ethnicity to Sex or Age.

   For other statistics types or more complex cross comparisons, you can download the data in CSV format to be used with other software like Microsoft Excel.

2. How do I compare multiple types of cancer?
   In the Get Started with a Cancer Site drop down, please select the option to "Compare Cancer Sites". This selection will enable a button in the Compare By section to allow you to select multiple cancer sites for comparison.

3. Where do I go for Technical Support?
   Please send questions or comments to SEER Website Support.