The Georgia Center for Cancer Statistics (GCCS), a division of the Department of Epidemiology in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, was founded in 1976 to provide population-based incidence data for a five-county region in the southeastern United States, as part of the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program . The GCCS also operates the Rural Georgia SEER Registry (since 1978) covering an additional 10 counties to the southeast of Metropolitan Atlanta.

In 1995, the Georgia Department of Community Health (GA DCH), Division of Public Health established the Georgia Cancer Registry with funding from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National Program of Cancer Registries . The GCCS was designated by the GA DCH to conduct the day-to-day operation of this statewide population-based cancer registry. The data from this registry furthers our understanding of cancer in Georgia and is used to develop strategies and policies for cancer prevention and control.