Monitoring the delivery of cancer care: Commission on Cancer and National Cancer Data Base

The primary objective of the Commission on Cancer (CoC) is to ensure the delivery of comprehensive, high-quality care that improves survival while maintaining quality of life for patients with cancer. This article examines the initiatives of the CoC toward achieving this goal, utilizing data from the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) to monitor treatment patterns and outcomes, to develop quality measures, and to benchmark hospital performance. The article also highlights how these initiatives align with the Institute of Medicine's recommendations for improving the quality of cancer care and briefly explores future projects of the CoC and NCDB.