Cancer isn’t just one disease. It is a large and complex family of malignancies that can affect virtually every organ in the body. Cancer is second only to heart disease as the leading cause of death in the United States. Cancer begins in the body’s cells, which are constantly dividing and multiplying to replace old, damaged cells. Sometimes, cells begin to divide unnecessarily, forming excess tissue known as a tumor. To measure the mortality rate the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) formed a Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This GIS is a method to visualize, manipulate, analyze, and display spatial data.
It includes “Smart Maps” linking a database to the map. “GIS-Archive map research on cancer” Cancer Cancer is a group of diseases characterized by uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells. If the spread is not controlled, it can result in death. Cancer is caused by both external factors (tobacco, chemicals, radiation and infectious organisms) and internal factors (inherited mutations, hormones, immune conditions and mutations that occur from metabolism). These casual factors may act together or in sequence to initiate or to promote carcinogenesis. Ten or more years often pass between exposure to external factors and detectable cancer.
Cancer is treated with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, hormone therapy, biological therapy and targeted therapy. Statistics Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for one out of every four deaths. Half of all men and one-third of all women in the US will develop cancer during their lifetimes. Three out of every four American families will have at least one family member diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. US cancer deaths rose by 5,400 in 2005. Since the early 1990s, however, overall rates have been declining — 18 percent for men and 10 percent for women.