The session recording will be archived on the site until June 25th, 2023

This session was streamed but not recorded

Curated Track: 

Description:

Cancer research has a long tradition of using geospatial approaches. The earliest application could date back to 1870 when mapping techniques were used to visualize cancer mortality in Britain (Haviland 1892). Cancer research was subsequently gone through several phases ranging from traditional analysis approaches in epidemiology, modern epidemiology, and to location-based geospatial approaches to address the challenges in the full spectrum of cancer control and prevention. Recently, President Barack Obama signed the bipartisan Trevor’s Law into law, the purpose was to ensure government agencies, in coordination with institutes of higher education, to conduct investigations to help address cancer clusters and factors that may contribute to the creation of potential cancer clusters (Congress 2016). The signing of the Trevor’s Law implies an important role played by geography in cancer control and prevention.

Cancer occurs in specific places which has specific natural, built, and social characteristics. Nowadays, the risk of death caused by cancer is more accurately predicted by a patient's zip code than their genetic code. In the era of big data and with the advances in data science technologies, effective and efficient tools under the framework of geographic thinking need to be developed and adopted in addressing important questions in cancer control and prevention.

Related topics include but are not limited to

• cancer mapping and geovisualization
• geocoding of cancer data
• cancer cluster analysis
• accessibility to cancer care
• delineation of cancer service areas or catchment areas
• cancer disparities and inequalities
• telehealth in cancer control
• spatial behavior of cancer patients
• social determinants of cancer
• environmental risk factors of cancer
• cancer screening and prevention
• education and community outreach for cancer control
• cancer treatment and clinical trials participation
• cancer and social media


***************************************************************************************************************
This session is a part of the Geospatial Health Research Symposium, which is organized by the Health and Medical Geography Specialty Group. This yearly symposium aims to bring together national and international scholars, practitioners, and policy makers from different specialties, institutions, sectors, and continents to share ideas, findings, methodologies, and technologies, and to establish and strengthen personal connections, communication channels, and research collaborations. For more information about the symposium, please feel free to contact Paul Delamater at pld@email.unc.edu.
***************************************************************************************************************

References

Congress H.R.2576 114th. Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act. Public Law No. 114-182. 2016. Available from https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2576.

Haviland, A. 1892. The geographical distribution of disease in Great Britain: Sonnenschein.

Sahar, L., S. L. Foster, R. L. Sherman, K. A. Henry, D. W. Goldberg, D. G. Stinchcomb, and J. E. Bauer. 2019. GIScience and cancer: State of the art and trends for cancer surveillance and epidemiology. Cancer 125 (15):2544-2560.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. 2020. The costs of cancer, 49.

Non-Presenting Participants