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SPOTLIGHT ON RESOURCES
It sounds like a no-brainer
that the rate of melanomas would be rising faster in sunny Arizona
than in the rest of the United States. But why
would skin cancer rates be moving upward in Tucson but not Phoenix? This
month’s spotlight falls on a new Web resource from the National
Cancer Institute that can inspire these and other cancer prevention research
questions. “We try to seduce you in to really look at the data, to think about what’s the pattern, what’s the story behind each area,” NCI statistician Sue Bell, Ph.D., explained at the unveiling of the revamped State Cancer Profiles site on Sept. 2. The Web site is a data hound’s dream, packed with statistics on eight preventable cancers and their incidence and mortality rates by state and county. Just choose a state and cancer (or all cancers and all states), and the site offers dozens of ways to dig down deep into the numbers. Researchers can compare lung cancer rates in Des Moines County, Iowa, with those in Oktibbeha County in Mississippi. The site can retrieve information on historical trends and sort data by gender, race or ethnic group or age. Researchers can even glean insights on the influence of socioeconomic and some risk and prevention behaviors, down to the county level. In most cases, the data are automatically graphed and can be combined for more comprehensive comparisons. NCI plans to expand the site as more data become available, especially for counties that have collected little information on cancer among particular racial and ethnic groups like Native Americans and Pacific Islanders. “The goal here is highlight where the opportunities are,” Bell said. To start crunching the numbers, go to here. |
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