Louisiana Tumor Registry

The Board works closely with the director of the Louisiana Tumor Registry, Vivien W. Chen, Ph.D., in establishing policy and procedure for the operation of the Registry. Originally established as part of the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program, the Tumor Registry began in New Orleans at Charity Hospital (now Medical Center of Louisiana) in 1974 with federal funding. Cancer data was collected for Orleans, Jefferson and St. Bernard Parishes. In 1979, when federal funding for the local registry stopped, the state began funding the registry and established the Board, housing both within the Office of Public Health. By 1983, the Tumor Registry was collecting data from the 35 southern parishes of Louisiana. In 1988, expansion of the Tumor Registry encompassed data collection activities in every parish of the State, through a network of eight regional registries. The regional registries continue to provide data to the Central Office.

In 1995, the Louisiana Tumor Registry (Central Office), and the Louisiana Cancer and Lung Trust Fund Board were administratively moved from the Louisiana Office of Public Health to the Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans.

For additional information you may call the Louisiana Tumor Registry directly:

Central Office
- Director, Vivien W. Chen, PhD.: 504/680-9568
- Information requests: Patricia Andrews, MPH: 504/568-4795
- FAX: 504/568-2493
Regional Offices
- Southeast Louisiana Regional Office: 504/680-9060
- Baton Rouge Regional Office: 225/767-0430
- Acadiana Tumor Registry: 337/237-5398
- Southwest Louisiana Regional Office: 337/491-7790
- North and Central Louisiana Regional Office: 318/342-1763