The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services is proposing to readopt the rules at N.J.A.C. 8:57A, Cancer Registry, which establish requirements for reporting diseases and conditions to the New Jersey State Cancer Registry.

In addition to technical amendments being proposed throughout the chapter, the department is proposing substantive amendments to add to the list of diseases and conditions that must be reported to the cancer registry by administrative officers of health care facilities, physicians, dentists, and directors of independent clinical laboratories.

Under the proposal to amend N.J.A.C. 8:57A, a number of reportable malignant diseases and conditions would be added to the reporting requirement in order to reflect changes in nomenclature and changes in the classification of malignant status.

The Department also proposes to amend N.J.A.C. 8:57A-1.8 by adding benign and borderline tumors of the central nervous system to the list of reportable diseases and conditions.

These amendments would bring the chapter into compliance with the Benign Brain Tumor Cancer Registries Amendment Act, Pub. L. 107-260, enacted October 29, 2002.  The act requires state cancer registries participating in the National Program for Cancer Registries to collect data on benign and borderline tumors of the central nervous system in addition to the previously required data on malignant tumors.

Cancer registries must comply with the requirements of the Benign Brain Tumor Cancer Registries Amendment Act in order to remain eligible for federal grants under The Cancer Registries Amendment Act, Pub. L. 102-515, enacted October 24, 1992.  That law authorizes the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to make grants to states to support the collection of cancer data through statewide cancer registries. 

Benign brain tumors can result in patient sickness or death by producing clinical effects due to their location or growth in mass, such as hemorrhaging, seizure activity, edema, and other conditions.  Tracking these tumors ensures the availability of data for research.

The proposal appears in the May 16, 2005 issue of the New Jersey Register.  The public has until July 15, 2005 to comment on the proposal.  Comments must be submitted in writing to Betsy A. Kohler, Director, Cancer Epidemiology Services, New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, P O Box 369, Trenton, NJ 08625‑0369.  Written comments must be postmarked on or before July 15, 2005, which is the close of the 60-day public comment period.

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