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SEER*Transfer

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SEER*Transfer and Cancer Reporting

Cancer is designated as a reportable disease in the United States.  State and territorial reporting regulations require hospitals and all healthcare providers (such as physicians, pharmacists, and laboratories) to report on cancer cases diagnosed or treated at their facility.  Population-based or “central” cancer registries receive and record the data about cancer patients in their state, territory, or region.

The SEER*Transfer software supports the secure transmission of cancer data from the reporting facilities to the central cancer registry.  It was developed as a single software solution to reduce IT burdens for each registry.  A separate instance is deployed in the individual registry’s computer enclave.

  • SEER*Transfer transmits data to an individual registry’s secure computing environment and data management system. It is compatible with the SEER Data Management System (SEER*DMS).
  • SEER*Transfer is available to central registries funded by the NCI SEER Program and to state registries that use SEER*DMS under contract with Information Management Services, Inc. (IMS).
  • SEER*Transfer was developed by IMS under contract to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). NCI does not have any access to the SEER*Transfer application, data transferred via SEER*Transfer, or the registry’s instance of SEER*DMS.
  • Registries that use SEER*DMS are not required to use SEER*Transfer. Use of the SEER*Transfer application is determined by registry management.  The central registry authorizes and maintains user accounts for their reporting facilities.
  • Data submissions from national and multi-regional data providers are supported via SEER*Transfer. These data are sent to an instance of SEER*Transfer that parses and transmits registry-specific data to each registry’s computer enclave.  IMS authorizes and maintains user accounts for these data providers.  Each central registry must approve receipt of these data.

Information for Reporting Facilities

  • Medical facilities interested in using SEER*Transfer should contact their central cancer registry.
  • National and multi-regional data providers interested in reporting data to multiple registries should contact seertransfer@imsweb.com.

Data Security and Confidentiality

Relevant regulations, policies, and laws are strictly implemented to guide the handling of information in cancer registries. These measures protect the privacy and confidentiality of cancer patients, physicians and other healthcare professionals, and healthcare facilities.

Technical Specifications

SEER*Transfer supports manual uploads and automated transfers via REST API.  It is a web-based system that uses TLS for secure communications.  Multifactor authentication is required for user authentication.

Transferred data are not stored in SEER*Transfer, the data are immediately forwarded to the registry instance of SEER*DMS.  SEER*Transfer is hosted within the same FISMA security authorization boundary as the registry’s instance of SEER*DMS.

Diagram showing path of data from facility to SEER*Transfer to SEER*DMS

Automated File Transfers Using the REST API

SEER*Transfer supports a REST API option so that facilities can automate transfers with no human intervention.  

The SEER API is served over HTTPS. To ensure data privacy, unencrypted HTTP communication is not supported.

The following examples show API calls using a command-line tool called cURL. It is a convenient way to make any type of REST API call. It is installed on most Windows, Linux and macOS systems by default.

Here is a full example showing how to upload two files.

curl -X POST \     
     -H 'Accept: application/json' \
     -H 'Content-Type: multipart/form-data' \
     -H 'X-Transfer-Token: TOKEN_GOES_HERE' \
     -F 'file=@C:\data\path1.txt' \
     -F 'file=@C:\data\path2.txt' \
     -F algorithm=hl7-naaccr \
     -F facility=FAC-1000 \
     -F 'comment=cURL example' \
     https://id.seertransfer.com/api/import
  • X-Transfer-Token must contain the access token you created in the previous step.
  • file represents a file to upload.  To transfer multiple files, you can either supply multiple file lines in a single call or send files via a zip file.
  • algorithm represents algorithm ID you are uploading.  The registry will provide this information to you.
  • facility the registry’s ID for your facility
  • comment is optional.
  • dry-run, if set to "true", allows for testing the API and validation without actually importing the files.

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