SEER-Medicare: File Sizes & Distribution

Data will be sent to investigators on thumb drives.

The data files will be encrypted using SecureDoc and password-protected. The data files will also be compressed using the GZIP compression utility. Programs such as 7-Zip and WinZip are available to unzip the compressed files onto the user's PC in the directory that the user specifies. The PC must be equipped with the Windows Operating system. GUNZIP is necessary to unzip the files if using a UNIX or Linux machine.

The following table provides some examples from recent productions. The files are compressed before they are written to the thumb drives, however, the file sizes provided are for the files in their non-compressed format. The table shows the estimated size of files in gigabytes and the number of thumb drives for one major cancer site (colorectal) and for four major cancer sites combined (breast, colorectal, lung and prostate). Also shown are estimates and media requirements for the 5% all cancer and non-cancer databases.

File 1 Major Cancer Site 4 Major Cancer Sites 5% All Cancer Database 5% Non-Cancer Database
Size (GB) * Thumb Drives Size (GB) Thumb Drives Size (GB) Thumb Drives Size (GB) Thumb Drives
SEER 1.19 0.01 4.92 0.04 0.57 0.01 -- --
MBSF AB/ABCD 5.39 0.03 30.25 0.18 2.87 0.02 11.06 0.07
CC Summary27 99-21 3.80 0.03 20.08 0.14 1.94 0.01 7.15 0.05
CC Summary30 17-22 0.52 0.00 3.47 0.02 0.33 0.00 1.25 0.01
Other CC 00-22 4.92 0.01 26.49 0.07 2.87 0.01 1.25 0.01
MEDPAR 99-22 13.41 0.09 56.67 0.39 5.86 0.04 18.48 0.12
DME 99-22 21.58 0.12 98.41 0.55 9.42 0.05 32.08 0.18
HHA 99-22 14.48 0.05 58.76 0.21 6.09 0.02 22.97 0.08
Hospice 99-22 6.88 0.03 30.65 0.12 3.09 0.01 8.74 0.03
Part D MTM 13-21 0.05 0.00 0.32 0.00 0.03 0.00 0.12 0.00
MDS 99-22 7.36 0.05 28.79 0.21 3.29 0.02 13.00 0.10
OASIS 99-22 10.40 0.05 43.24 0.21 4.75 0.02 15.17 0.07
NCH 1999 9.47 0.05 40.30 0.21 4.42 0.02 18.86 0.10
NCH 2000 12.06 0.06 50.74 0.26 5.46 0.03 20.30 0.10
NCH 2001 14.10 0.07 59.87 0.30 6.35 0.03 21.12 0.11
NCH 2002 16.11 0.08 68.77 0.35 7.22 0.04 22.37 0.11
NCH 2003 17.51 0.09 75.54 0.38 7.86 0.04 23.19 0.12
NCH 2004 18.73 0.09 81.34 0.41 8.41 0.04 23.84 0.12
NCH 2005 20.27 0.10 88.80 0.44 9.11 0.05 24.80 0.13
NCH 2006 20.61 0.10 92.18 0.46 9.38 0.05 24.73 0.13
NCH 2007 20.40 0.10 93.81 0.48 9.51 0.05 24.93 0.13
NCH 2008 20.69 0.10 97.25 0.50 9.74 0.05 25.38 0.13
NCH 2009 20.95 0.10 101.29 0.51 10.11 0.05 26.18 0.13
NCH 2010 20.90 0.11 103.42 0.54 10.27 0.05 26.70 0.14
NCH 2011 20.44 0.10 103.62 0.53 10.28 0.05 26.60 0.14
NCH 2012 20.39 0.10 106.02 0.54 10.45 0.05 27.38 0.14
NCH 2013 20.05 0.11 107.06 0.60 10.51 0.06 28.02 0.16
NCH 2014 19.51 0.11 107.05 0.60 10.49 0.06 28.36 0.16
NCH 2015 19.04 0.11 107.19 0.61 10.46 0.06 28.68 0.17
NCH 2016 18.34 0.10 105.79 0.59 10.24 0.06 28.51 0.16
NCH 2017 17.36 0.10 102.59 0.59 9.97 0.06 28.15 0.16
NCH 2018 16.58 0.09 100.53 0.58 9.72 0.06 28.25 0.16
NCH 2019 15.73 0.09 97.84 0.56 9.42 0.05 28.31 0.17
NCH 2020 13.05 0.07 82.92 0.47 7.99 0.05 24.52 0.14
NCH 2021 13.31 0.07 88.54 0.49 8.43 0.05 27.60 0.15
NCH 2022 11.10 0.06 78.60 0.45 7.41 0.04 26.95 0.16
Outpatient 1999 3.33 0.01 14.55 0.05 1.59 0.01 7.05 0.02
Outpatient 2000 4.25 0.02 18.99 0.07 2.02 0.01 7.83 0.03
Outpatient 2001 5.04 0.02 22.71 0.09 2.38 0.01 8.19 0.03
Outpatient 2002 5.96 0.02 26.90 0.10 2.81 0.01 9.04 0.03
Outpatient 2003 6.56 0.02 29.77 0.11 3.10 0.01 9.43 0.04
Outpatient 2004 7.19 0.03 32.76 0.12 3.38 0.01 9.92 0.04
Outpatient 2005 7.69 0.03 35.33 0.13 3.64 0.01 10.36 0.04
Outpatient 2006 7.81 0.03 36.45 0.13 3.72 0.01 10.21 0.04
Outpatient 2007 8.14 0.03 38.31 0.14 3.93 0.01 10.70 0.04
Outpatient 2008 8.47 0.03 40.33 0.15 4.12 0.02 11.39 0.04
Outpatient 2009 8.76 0.03 42.31 0.15 4.31 0.02 11.87 0.04
Outpatient 2010 9.00 0.03 44.05 0.16 4.48 0.02 12.15 0.04
Outpatient 2011 9.27 0.03 46.02 0.17 4.69 0.02 12.70 0.05
Outpatient 2012 9.51 0.03 47.71 0.18 4.87 0.02 13.08 0.05
Outpatient 2013 9.65 0.04 49.16 0.19 5.00 0.02 13.27 0.05
Outpatient 2014 9.65 0.04 50.03 0.19 5.09 0.02 13.52 0.05
Outpatient 2015 9.81 0.04 51.59 0.20 5.23 0.02 13.98 0.05
Outpatient 2016 9.92 0.04 53.58 0.21 5.39 0.02 14.53 0.06
Outpatient 2017 9.61 0.04 52.77 0.20 5.31 0.02 14.41 0.05
Outpatient 2018 9.39 0.03 52.73 0.20 5.30 0.02 14.56 0.06
Outpatient 2019 9.08 0.03 52.29 0.20 5.25 0.02 14.61 0.06
Outpatient 2020 7.72 0.03 44.95 0.17 4.52 0.02 12.66 0.05
Outpatient 2021 7.72 0.03 47.61 0.18 4.72 0.02 13.55 0.05
Outpatient 2022 6.34 0.02 40.57 0.16 3.98 0.02 12.90 0.05
Part D Event 2007 3.87 0.03 18.25 0.13 1.85 0.01 6.75 0.05
Part D Event 2008 4.12 0.03 19.80 0.14 2.00 0.01 7.17 0.05
Part D Event 2009 4.21 0.03 20.64 0.15 2.06 0.02 7.40 0.05
Part D Event 2010 4.38 0.03 21.90 0.16 2.18 0.02 7.79 0.06
Part D Event 2011 4.44 0.03 22.64 0.17 2.24 0.02 8.04 0.06
Part D Event 2012 4.81 0.03 25.12 0.18 2.46 0.02 8.87 0.06
Part D Event 2013 5.27 0.04 28.34 0.21 2.76 0.02 9.97 0.07
Part D Event 2014 5.29 0.04 29.07 0.22 2.82 0.02 10.34 0.08
Part D Event 2015 5.22 0.04 29.33 0.22 2.83 0.02 10.60 0.08
Part D Event 2016 5.14 0.04 29.57 0.22 2.84 0.02 10.90 0.08
Part D Event 2017 4.97 0.04 29.32 0.22 2.81 0.02 11.07 0.08
Part D Event 2018 4.76 0.04 28.80 0.22 2.76 0.02 11.19 0.08
Part D Event 2019 4.50 0.03 28.00 0.22 2.66 0.02 11.29 0.09
Part D Event 2020 4.17 0.03 26.71 0.20 2.52 0.02 11.26 0.08
Part D Event 2021 3.88 0.03 25.67 0.19 2.40 0.02 11.36 0.08
Part D Event 2022 3.62 0.03 24.72 0.18 2.30 0.02 11.60 0.08
Last Updated: 02 Apr, 2025