Cancer Data: A Valuable Tool

After 30 years of service to others, Cancer Registry Services of TXK, LLC, owner Dianne Ketchum looks forward to focusing on family during retirement

by Amber E. Willman

photo by ABBY ELLIOTT

Dianne and Larry celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on June 22, 2018.

Six letters. It affects most of Earth’s population in some way. Just hearing the c-word strikes fear in folks. It finds an entry point to your body, takes over, and spreads. It holds you and your loved ones hostage. It’s known by many names, but only one name really matters. Cancer.

Your world is turned upside down, and your new oncologist rides in like a knight in shining armor wielding treatment plans and solutions. But before you cast all your hope on this superhero in scrubs, you might be interested to know that he isn’t working alone. Just like Batman has Alfred, medical professionals also have a team who is compiling the details, recording the data, and providing the statistics that go into determining the short- and long-term plans for your treatment. This team doesn’t have a fancy cave or cool gadgets. What they do have is dedication, determination, and passion because what they do matters.

Dianne with Donna Marlar, Emily Mahar, and Tammy Turner, during her last Cancer Registry Services of Texarkana team photo.

Dianne Ketchum started her career 31 years ago as an abstractor for the Texarkana Cancer Registry. Laws mandate that all malignant cancer cases must be reported to state and national registries. Working to maintain the records of cancer cases from both CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System and Wadley Regional Medical Center, the registry was placed under the umbrella of UAMS with the two major hospitals and 10 area hospitals forming the Regional Cancer Program UAMS-SW Cancer Registry. 

In November of 1991, the registry received their first approval from the Commission on Cancer. Dianne’s team “coordinated weekly tumor board meetings at both hospitals where patients’ information could be discussed by a multi-disciplinary group of physicians, and consensus of care was established for the best possible outcome for the patient.”

In March 2005, Dianne and Larry visited with the Japanese film crew at Bryce’s Cafeteria.

“The benefit to the patient is that cancer registry data is sorted by cancer site and stage or extent of disease at diagnosis. This allows physicians and administrators to look at the data and develop quality studies to provide action plans for improvements, such as lung cancer being diagnosed at AJCC Stage 4, and a Lung Cancer Low Dose Screening program was implemented to find lung cancers at an earlier state of disease,” Dianne says.

In 1999, Dianne received a grant from the Arkansas chapter of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The process would take a year, but the goal was to compare local data against regional and national data for breast cancer surgeries and mastectomies.  “Data is powerful, and this grant’s activities provided an opportunity to initiate change in the management of breast cancer treatment locally,” Dianne explained.

In remembrance of her 31 years of service to the cancer registry, Dianne received this plaque from her staff.

Further accolades for her work came in 2005. A Japanese film crew chose CHRISTUS St. Michael in Texarkana as a CoC-approved cancer program because of their “approval with commendation” status with the CoC. Because UAMS-AHEC-SW coordinated the cancer program for CHRISTUS, Dianne was asked to coordinate the agenda for the film crew.

Dianne created mock tumor board meetings and mock cancer committee meetings for the film crew to witness. The crew filmed and interviewed the registry staff, and at the end of their visit, they were presented with a key to the city of Texarkana. The documentary aired in Japan, with the cancer registry segment making it to “Good Morning, Japan.”

The Arkansas Chapter of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation awarded a grant to Options for Early Breast Cancer in 1999.  Pictured are: Dianne, grant director; Joanne Allen, UAMS cancer registry director; and Rebecca Hyatt, UAMS research and grant writer.

Toshi, the producer, wrote a book about his experience working with the registry and the hospitals. In a letter to Dianne, Toshi expressed his gratitude, stating that he firmly believed the segment “Questioning and Revising Cancer Medicine in Japan, Part 2” greatly impressed their viewers and “helped further promote cancer medicine in Japan.”

In 2012, Dianne and her team of 15 professionals from various organizations worked together to create a cancer-focused Community Needs Assessment (CNA). This was required by the CoC to meet standards for accreditation. The assessment was first presented to the Arkansas Cancer Registrar’s Association State Meeting and then to two prominent national organizations, The National Cancer Registrar’s Association (NCRA) Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California, in May 2013 and the Commission on Cancer (CoC) Survey Savvy Meeting in Chicago, June 2013.  Her presentation was so impressive, the American Cancer Society requested permission to use it to teach other facilities how to create a community needs assessment. 

“The CNA Statement of Need was ‘to identify the needs of the population we serve, to improve cancer health disparities, and to identify gaps in the resources available to the cancer patients in our community.’   This Community Needs Assessment was intended to assist healthcare organizations and professionals in the pursuit of improving the health and support of the cancer patients in the Texarkana area,” Dianne says.

In 2013, a change in the tide allowed Dianne the opportunity to start her own company. She owned and managed the Cancer Registry Services of TXK, LLC until her retirement August 31, 2021. 

“No one wakes up one morning and says, ‘I want to become a cancer registrar when I grow up.’   Most people have never heard of a cancer registry or the duties of a registrar.  They normally have not given thought of how the incidence or stage of cancer is reported to both state and national organizations.  The work of the cancer registrar is very detailed and requires consistent training and education as research for cancer treatments are always evolving.  I have always felt complete and accurate data collection to be such a valued part of the work cancer registrars accomplish since collecting excellent data provides researchers with the information they need in pursuit of the best treatments,” Dianne says.

After 30 years of service to others, Dianne is looking forward to retirement. She and her husband, Larry, have been married for 53 years. They have two children, five grandchildren, and one great- granddaughter. They look forward to traveling and focusing on their family. 

Perhaps Dianne’s staff said it best with the words inscribed on her retirement gift. “May you be proud of the work you have done, the person you are, and the difference you have made.”

Instead of allowing a six-letter c-word to paralyze us with fear, let us replace it with a six-letter d-word that inspires hope. Dianne.