2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART II - Disease Control (§§ 351 — 697) › Chapter 23A - Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry Act (§§ 390 — 404) › § 391 - Requirement to report to the Registry

(1) It shall be required to report to the Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry any case of cancer, carcinoma, lymphoma (including Hodgkin's disease), sarcoma, leukemia, benign and malignant tumor in the central nervous system, or any other malignant growth or neoplastic disease, as well as any other related information as required by regulations to. Such report shall be filed within thirty (30) days after the entity's first contact with the patient for clinical or pathological diagnosis, advice about treatment options, or treatment of such condition. The following parties shall be required to report the cases to the Registry through the means and in the medium or format required by regulations:
(a) Administrators or persons in charge of public or private hospitals; outpatient clinics; radiation therapy facilities; cancer, oncology, and chemotherapy centers; or any other institution or organization that provides diagnostic or treatment services to cancer patients.
(b) Physicians, surgeons, dentists, and any other health professionals diagnosing or providing treatment to cancer patients, or who are sought for advice regarding treatment options for such patients.
(c) Administrators or persons in charge of clinics, nursing homes, rest homes, hospices, and any other similar institution with cancer patients under its care or custody.
(2) It shall be required to report to the Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry every pathology, cytology, or bone marrow report; autopsy; clinical laboratory result; pathological reviews, tumor markers, imaging studies, and any other clinical, laboratory, or pathology report that is consistent with clinical diagnosis, or that shows, confirms, or contributes to the specific diagnosis or the determination of the extent of the disease at the time of diagnosis of any case of cancer, carcinoma, lymphoma (including Hodgkin disease), sarcoma, leukemia, benign tumors in the central nervous system, or any other malignant growth or neoplastic disease, as well as any other information related to the diagnosis or extent of the condition within thirty (30) days following such diagnosis or test. The following parties shall be required to report the cases to the Registry using the selection criteria and through the means, and in medium or format established by the Registry through regulations:
(a) Private or public pathology and clinical laboratories.
(b) Dermatopathologists.
(c) Hematologic and medical oncologists who diagnose any of the conditions described in this section.
(d) Any other center where tests are conducted to prove or confirm that a person suffers a reportable condition pursuant to this chapter.
(3) In the case that a physician, surgeon, dentist, or any other health professional who provides a diagnosis, sends the tumor specimen or sample to be analyzed or studied in laboratories outside Puerto Rico, which are not subject to the law of Puerto Rico, it shall be mandatory for these persons to send a copy of the microscopic examination report to the Registry within thirty (30) days as of the date of the report, through the means and in the medium or format prescribed by the Registry through regulations.
(4) Cases of basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma, as well as carcinoma in situ of the cervix, shall not be reported to the Registry, with certain exceptions as established through regulations.
(5) In the case of administrators or persons in charge of private or public clinics, nursing homes, rest homes, hospices, or other similar institutions with cancer patients under their care or custody shall also report to the Registry about the condition of the patient, as well as the treatment administered, in the format and medium and with the frequency prescribed to such effect through regulations, in strict confidentiality and for statistical purposes only.
(6) Every entity subject to the reporting requirement under this chapter shall allow the Registry to access records, admission records, disease indices, or any other physical or electronic document that the Registry deems necessary to identify or complete each and every cancer case or to establish cancer characteristics, treatment, or status of any identified cancer patient. Such information shall be kept under strict confidentiality by the Registry. Records shall be accessed in accordance to federal and Commonwealth patient confidentiality laws.
(7) The Registry shall periodically carry out audits to ensure complete identification of cancer cases and to validate the data submitted to the Registry, as required by national and Commonwealth agencies that regulate cancer data and information, with the purpose of assessing quality and full reporting of cases.
History —July 30, 2010, No. 113, art. 4, §§ 1–7.