Date of last contact is grouped under which abstracting section?

• A. Outcomes
• B. Patient Identification
• C. Cancer Identification
• D. Stage of Disease at Diagnosis

Answer: (A)

Date of last contact is a follow-up detail that tracks how recently the patient was seen and whether they are alive, which is essential for calculating survival and understanding the patient’s outcomes. In cancer registry terminology, data fields are organized into sections such as identification, cancer identification, stage at diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes. The date of last contact directly informs outcomes because it records the end result of follow-up—alive with known status or lost to follow-up—and provides the time interval needed for survival analyses. It isn’t about identifying the patient, nor about describing the cancer type or its stage, and it isn’t a treatment item. So it fits best under outcomes.